Web site updates. 31st December: 2005 ACU UK Top Fuel Bike Champion Steve Woollatt has launched a new web site at www.woollattracing.com. The very nicely-designed site includes details about Steve's six-second bike, rider and team biographies including a list of Steve's achievements, sponsor list, photo galleries and on-board video clip, fan gallery and more. Swedish Top Methanol Funny Car racer Kjell Sjöblom has also launched a new web site at www.pritonaracing.com. Kjell's site has been designed by Anders Magnusson of Forcewebs, who also runs Leif Andréasson's web site, and shares the same professional look featuring news (including a look at Kjell's new FC body for 2006), photo galleries, team biographies and more. ©Eurodragster.com UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter's web site has been updated with an initial 2006 racing and exhibition schedule as well as a feature on son Albert's unique Top Fuel Perambulator. Check it out at www.andycarter.net. Andy has put us on standby for some big news very soon, so stay tuned. Our good buddy Carl Wadkin-Snaith of the UK's Team Fang Supertwin Fuel team apologises for the lack of news recently. "The collection of new bits is increasing and rest assured we will be contesting some if not all rounds of the NAST Championship in 2006", says Carl. "To compensate for the lack of updates I've added to my web site a small gallery of 2005 trackside and pit photos selected from my efforts, and a couple from son Dominic. They are accessible at www.thefang.co.uk/2005_photos.htm, hope you enjoy them. Best wishes to everyone for 2006, and a big Thank You to all our fans whose enthusiasm and generosity keep me going: Cheers!" Swift snippets. 31st December: We would like a say a big Happy Birthday to our friend Sean Bowe who adds a year just before the year ends. Hope you are having a great day, Sean. ©Eurodragster.com Mosten Race Days offer prize. 30th December: Registration opens tomorrow (Saturday) for the 2006 Mosten Race Days, which take place at Denmark's Mosten Raceway on 1st-3rd September 2006. Raceday Co-ordinator Hans-Jørgen Hitz tells us that money is on offer for Top Fuel Bike and Supertwin racers as well as a special bonus for the first to register. ©Eurodragster.com "The first five to register in Top Fuel Bike and Supertwin will each receive 10,000 Danish Krone in start money", says Hans-Jørgen. "Register and go onto the waiting list and you may get into the pay class. It's the best sprint track in Denmark with lots of food, beer, partying, police, fun, girls and drag racing. Be there!" In addition, the first racer to register on-line at 00.00 tomorrow (European time, 23:00 UK) will win 500 Danish Krone. "You will get the money at the Race Day", says Hans-Jørgen. You can register on-line and find more information at www.mosten-mc.dk. A Camaro, through Force of Habit. 30th December: Further to yesterday's Swift Snippet, Team Force of Habit Crew Chief Jos Vegter has been in touch from The Netherlands with more information about David Vegter's move to Pro Mod. "After five years moving through Super Street, Super Gas and Super Comp, we have decided to make the big step to Pro Modified", says Jos. "The Camaro was sold to Austria a month ago, and we have been working hard trying to find a suitable upgrade. ©Eurodragster.com "Our final choice was to go for the '67 Camaro body (right) made by Cynergy Composites Inc, based in Canada. The chassis will be built by Klaus Romahn in Germany. Plans for the power plant are in the works, but it is certain that we will be running a blown Hemi in this one. "Since we will need time to finish building the car, we will take time out from racing in 2006 and hope to make our first entry into the Pro Mod Championship in 2007." More sponsors for Pro ET. 30th December: UK Pro ET racer Carl Burton, who co-ordinates the Pro ET Sponsorship Scheme, tells us that yet more sponsors have signed up to the class. "The new sponsors are Penn Autos (01902 344004), for all your transmission work, and Inkwell Printing (01832 273745), for hero cards and decals", says Carl. ©Eurodragster.com "Any new Pro ET racers and abstainers can register on the Pro ET web site at www.pro-et.co.uk, then run the sponsors' decals and try to qualify #1 at Santa Pod rounds. "Any other companies who would like to get involved in the largest class of 2005 can contact me at burton@coates234.fsnet.co.uk. It pays to advertise!" Swift snippets. 30th December: UK blown-alcohol altered racer Dave Grabham has been in touch to ask if anyone knows the whereabouts of the Boss Cat altered (right). "It was last seen leaving Somerset in the early 1990s, heading for Scotland", says Dave. "I recently bumped into Adrian Dening, who last drove the car in 1992". If you can help then please drop Dave a line at dave@freddysrevenge.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Ben Rushforth and all the lads at EDA have asked us to say a big Congratulations to Rick and Sarah Johnson, parents of UK Junior Dragster racer Zak, on the birth of their second son Chevy who was born on Monday. We're very pleased to do so, congratulations to Rick, Sarah and Zak on the new arrival. Web site updates. 30th December: The Latest page of the Showtime Racing web site at www.showtimeracinguk.com has been updated with a brief report on the Fuel FC team's recent appearance at the Lean Weight Vehicle Conference as well as a preview of their forthcoming appearance at Autosport International. ©Eurodragster.com The official web site of the UK's Nobby Hills Racing Fuel FC team has been updated with the latest news from the team including some behind-the-scenes pictures showing the construction of the team's new trailer. Check it out at www.nhracing.com. Swift snippets. 29th December: Thanks to Alex Damstra for letting us know that The Netherlands' David Vegter is the latest Dutch racer to join the Pro Mod wars. David is planning to sit out 2006 to put together a Pro Mod for a 2007 début. For more details, and to check out parts for sale from David's Super Comp/Super Gas Camaro, check out the Force of Habit web site at www.forceofhabit.nl. ©Eurodragster.com The third Kamasa Tools Mechanic Challenge will take place in Stockholm's Kungsträdgården on Saturday 10th June 2006. The popular City Centre event brings mechanics to the fore, pitting some of Europe's best Top Methanol Funny Car crews against the clock and each other to warm up, strip down, rebuild and then fire up the engines of their FCs. Ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Smax Smith has been in touch to ask if anyone can think of any reason why his team's World Record engine stripdown and rebuild, which took place at the NSRA's event at Billing a few years ago, has yet to appear in the Guinness Book of Records. You can contact Smax through his web site at www.smaxsmith.com. If you have the US classic Decade of Thrills on video, and have always wondered why Steve Evans refers to "The next ninety minutes" in his introduction when the video is only an hour long, then you can find out by purchasing the programme on DVD. Available from Duke Marketing at www.dukevideo.com, the Decade of Thrills DVD lasts the full ninety minutes and the extra footage doesn't disappoint. Duke also sell Decade of Thrills 2 as well as a number of other US and UK drag racing DVDs. A very Happy Birthday for yesterday (Wednesday) to UK Super Street Bike racer Pete Bellenie. Hope that you had a great day, Pete. Web site updates. 29th December: The Andréasson Motorsports web site at www.andreassonmotorsports.com has been updated with Nettan and Suzzi Heleander's report of their trip to The Strip at Las Vegas to work with the NHRA's Safety Safari at a National event. The Twisted Sisters' report makes very interesting and entertaining reading and we can highly recommend a look in. ©Eurodragster.com Our good buddy Alan Currans has posted another update on his excellent Acceleration Archive. "The ideal antidote to the post-Christmas blues is now available on a computer screen near you", says Alan. "Three pages and sixty four pictures summing up my 2005 spectating season can be accessed under Recent Pictures in the Alan Currans Collection. Click on it now and forget the ghastly weather outside!". Check it out at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. SPRC Perpetual Awards week 6. 27th December: Once again Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give readers the chance of input to the SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 4th February 2006. For each of the 2005 season awards, the SPRC Committee has decided upon a shortlist for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. There are seven awards in all: shortlists conclude this week and votes will be accepted until 23:59 on Friday of next week (6th January). Voting for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy will also be open for the whole of this period (see below). The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC Committee decides upon the winners. Please note that attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates or forum members to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. This week's vote, the sixth, is for the Paul Giddings Memorial Trophy. The Paul Giddings Memorial Trophy is a bike-only award is 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. The SPRC Committee's shortlist for the Paul Giddings Memorial Trophy, in alphabetical order, is as follows: ©Eurodragster.com Ronny Aasen, Supertwin Steve Carey, Top Fuel Bike Gary Jones, Comp Bike Ton Pels, Supertwin 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.com page. Voting is per Award, so if you have voted in the previous five categories then you can 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 UK Tech Inspector Geoff Martin. Again see the official web page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to 2005sprcawards@eurodragster.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Trophy as the subject and your nomination in the body of the mail. Christmas Give-away winners. 27th December: Congratulations to Ann Van Gastel of Noorderwijk in Belgium who has won the Bahrain Drag Racing Festival baseball cap and a 2005 Kamasa Tools Mechanic Challenge DVD in Eurodragster.com's Christmas Give-away. ©Eurodragster.com Congratulations also to Mark Coles of Upper Coomera, Australia; Rog Cooper of Upper Beeding, UK; Peter Mitchell of Crewe, UK; and Bo Sundblad of Varberg, Sweden who each win a KTMC DVD. Many thanks to Rick Cuthbert Trakbak Racing and Anna Christell of KG Knutsson AB for providing the Give-away prizes. WRE ready for a break. 24th December: Jon Webster and the staff of joint Eurodragster.com webcam sponsor Webster Race Engineering are taking a break between Christmas and the New Year for the first time in years. Click on any link for a picture. "After a year working on average eighty hours a week we feel are in need of a bit of R+R", says Jon Webster. "I'm really happy with the way the shop is running, after three years here with dedication from Jonny Mac and Graham Rice in the workshop and Ian Marshall in the office. Ian is working hard with suppliers in the States to appropriate direct deals which is enabling us to pass more competitive prices to our customers, cutting out the middle man is also allowing us to ensure more realistic delivery dates." Jon says that the last four months have been particularly busy. "We have been building three full tube cars", says Jon. " Richard Davis' Super-class '41 Willys, Ian Hanson's state-of-the-art '53 Pro Mod 'Vette (right, click on picture for larger shot from another angle) and, shortly to be completed, Wayne Nicholson's '63 Pro Mod Corvette again state-of-the-art in every way. We've managed to streamline the operation and the facility to be able to build cars like Richard's, Ian's and Wayne's in as little as twelve weeks." ©Eurodragster.com If you were tuned in to Eurodragster.com News on 2nd December you will have read that Peter Knight has put up for sale his Top Fuel Dragster, which Jon drove into the fours at almost 300 mph. Jon says that he will miss the Top Fuel Dragster but that he will continue to work with Peter. "It was a privilege to drive and compete at that level, especially with Peter Knight as Crew Chief", says Jon. "The whole team were amazing and I'm proud to say I was part of it. My association with Peter Knight and Knight Racing Services will continue next season, because Peter built the 377ci turbo Ford motor in my MG SV and is providing full support for 2006. I will be competing in Street Eliminator all season with the MG, which we shook down a couple of times last year." Jon says that WRE will be sticking with what they know best in 2006. "We will be concentrating on chassis construction and design along with all associated fabrication work", says Jon. "By specialising in this area we have a complete and comprehensive knowledge which allows us to give our customers a product that is based on foundations of real pedigree. Our support at the track will also continue, and we are currently constructing a Track Support vehicle which will carry essential equipment and supplies which we know will benefit the racers at the track." WRE are looking forward to seeing some of their existing customers return to the track next year. "Alex Macintosh will be returning with his '86 Fox Mustang, now with 600 ci nitrous motor and Powerglide, Ian Jackson with his '65 Vette completely immersed in tube work in the form of a twin turbo SBC, Ray Comer's spectacular 3400lb '99 Z28 Camaro has a few upgrades which should put the cat amongst the pigeons, and of course our good friend Andy Frost with a twin turbo 570 ci Big Block monster", says Jon. "I'd like to wish them and all of our customers the best luck for 2006, and to send everyone our best wishes for the festive season." The Webster Race Engineering web site at www.webster-race-engineering.co.uk has recently been updated with more details of the products and services on offer. Click here for more pictures of Ian Hanson's and Wayne Nicholson's cars at the premises of Webster Race Engineering. A Show in the Workz. 24th December: Cindy Newbury has been in touch to let us know that Psycle Workz will be attending the National Streetfighter and Motorcycle Show at the G-Mex Centre, Manchester on 6th-8th January 2006, after being invited by Streetfighters and Bike Shows Europe. "We will be showing the Pro Stock race bike and products, and we will also be running a competition over the three days for people attending the show, with prizes from hospitality tickets for a weekend racing at a FIM Event to Psycle Workz vouchers to spend on products", says Cindy. "Full details will be available on www.psycleworkz.com. ©Eurodragster.com "On show will also be the Ric Naylor's new rolling chassis, Chris Stebbings' billet nitro top ends, the Kawasaki Outlaw bike, and some trick pieces developed over the winter months. It sounds like its going to be a good show, and should get us all in the racing spirit after the Christmas period. "Psycle Workz would also like to wish all of their customers a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year." Web site updates. 24th December: The B+J Nostalgia web site at www.bjnostalgia.com has been updated with the very latest news from the Crow Lane Skunk Works with, as Johnny Hall says, something for everyone including Matt Wright's awesome pick-up and the reborn Ratcatcher. ©Eurodragster.com Eurodragster.com interview Ashley Force. 24th December: When John Force came to London to receive the John Bolster Award for achievement at the 2005 Autosport Awards, he brought his family along with him. In between interviewing John and organising a photo-shoot in Park Lane, Eurodragster.com and Roger Gorringe managed to grab a quick word with John's daughter Ashley (right, picture courtesy and ©Roger Gorringe), who drives the Darien and Meadows A/Fuel Dragster. ©Eurodragster.com We asked Ashley about being a Force, about her 2005 season, about her plans for 2006, and about her plans to turn Pro with a Fuel Funny Car. Click here to read our interview with Ashley Force, or click on the Interviews link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If, when you have read the interview with Ashley Force, you would like to know what it is like to work on Ashley's team and to be employed by John Force Racing, then check out her clutch technician Andy Bissett's Top Twenty questions about John Force Racing, which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the Features link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Drag Racing Unplugged VII. 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, and others we didn't publish at the time. We are pleased to present Drag Racing Unplugged VII, the 2005 collection. ©Eurodragster.com Click here to view Drag Racing Unplugged VII, or click on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. Enjoy! Christmas give-away. 24th December: In association with Trakbak Racing and KG Knutsson AB we are running a give-away over the Christmas break. On offer is a commemorative cap from November's Bahrain Drag Racing Festival (as seen modelled by Andy Willsheer and John Price, right, picture courtesy and ©Rick Cuthbert). These caps have become collector's items and thanks to Rick Cuthbert of Trakbak Racing, who has donated the cap for this give-away, you could have one of your own. Courtesy of Anna Christell of KG Knutsson AB we also have five Kamasa Tools Mechanics Challenge DVDs to give away. The DVD features a half-hour programe covering the 2005 Kamasa Tools Mechanics Challenge, which took place in the middle of Stockholm in July, as well as the advertisements for the event. The first name out of the hat will win the baseball cap and a Kamasa Tools Mechanic Challenge DVD, and the next four names will each receive a DVD. ©Eurodragster.com To be in with a chance of winning the baseball cap and/or DVD, simply send an E-Mail to giveaway@eurodragster.com by 23:59 UK this Monday (26th December) specifying Give-away as the subject of the mail and giving: Your name Your full postal address including country See, we said it was simple! One entry only per E-Mail address please, and entries must arrive by 23:59 UK this Monday. We will announce the winners on Tuesday. Good luck! UK Champions' Champions. 24th December: Simon has produced an updated analysis of UK National Championship points tallies since the Championships started in 1999. Simon has looked through seven years' worth of UK National and ACU UK and MSA British Championship points and has produced Top Tens based on total points won between 1999 and 2005 as well as Championship and Event wins. Procedurally, each class is looked at separately. An event must be completed for a win to be registered; wins are ranked by those scored by a particular driver, whereas points are scored and ranked on a team basis. Leading the way is Rob Turner (MSA British Drag Racing Championship) with five Championships, twelve wins and heading the points tally once again. Gordon Appleton moves into the points lead in Pro Modified, as do Ellis Racing in Super Modified. Tim Adam remains supreme in Super Comp and for number of Championships in Super Gas, whilst Frank Mason is well ahead in event wins and points in that class. In Super Street, Mike Bentley and Team Rat Rage have a brace of Championships each, whereas Leigh Morris is ahead on number of wins and points tally. In Super Pro ET, Steve Green and Ian Tubb both have two Championships, and whilst Steve is still ahead on wins, Martyn Jones remains at the head of the aggregate points. ©Eurodragster.com Pro ET is still headed by Heaven and Hell Racing for Championships and points, with Bob Doyle ahead for wins. In Sportsman ET, Al Platt has relinquished the lead of total wins to Rick Denny but Al and Linda's Team Rainy City Lightning are still ahead in the other two categories. Junior Dragster again sees no-one scoring more than one Championship in the class' history but Nick Mugridge has moved into the lead of the points tally and shares a seven win total with NFAA-bound Jonathan Bond. 9.50 Bike (previously 9.90 Bike) sees Fred Furlong the only rider scoring more than one Championship in the class over the last seven years, whereas Jamie Sneddon, now racing in ACU Super Street and FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike classes, still retains the record for number of wins and points. In ACU Top Fuel Bike, Steve Woollatt continues to be dominant and Neil Midgley retains his lead in all categories for ACU Funny Bike. Dave Beck is putting some considerable distance between himself and the competition in ACU Pro Stock Bike. In ACU Competition Bike, seven different riders have each won one Championship in the period under review whereas Phil Leamon is ahead in wins and points. Graham Dance is well ahead in ACU Super Street bike in all categories. Click here to see the 2005 Champions' Champions, or click on the Champions' Champions link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. 2005 School of Excellence. 24th December: Unveiled with perfect timing to give its many adherents something to admire over the Christmas break, Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Sharkman has unveiled the 2005 School of Excellence on his personal web site Sharkman's Top End Tales. As ever the School showcases some of Sharkman's finest second-string photography, featuring a veritable pot-pourri of photographs of trackside architecture, candid shots of crew members and media, wheelie bar studies, special effects shots, and other pictures which defy simple description. Every one of them inadvertent. ©Eurodragster.com You can view the 2005 School of Excellence on Sharkman's web site at www.topendtales.com. Sharkman has also released his 2005 screen saver, which features no less than 778 images and takes nearly three-quarters of an hour to display an entire cycle. At 56 Mb this is one for Broadband download only but you can also find it at www.topendtales.com. Eurodragster.com's Christmas break. 24th December: We will now be taking our Christmas break, although we will only be gone until Tuesday (27th December). Keep those news items coming in to news@eurodragster.com and we will post them on Tuesday. Just in case Father Christmas is reading... ©Eurodragster.com Top of Tog's Christmas list: An eight. Top of Sharkman's Christmas list: A nice female Shark (Sharkette?) to swim into my life, preferably one into drag racing! Top of Simon's Christmas list: A year, or preferably many years, of European drag racing free of rain and (major at least) oil-downs, and once again full of hard and close racing. Tog's New Year resolution: The next person to treat me as an ignorant nerd rather than a journalist gets it... Sharkman's New Year resolution: To drive a race car. Simon's New Year resolution: To meet and report on the publishable activities of as many of the race teams as possible - you are the lifeblood of the sport and regularly make huge financial and other sacrifices to go racing. Tog, Sharkman and Simon would like to wish all Eurodragster.com readers and their families the very Happiest of Christmases, and to thank everyone who has sent us personal Christmas wishes and cards (Special thanks to Carl and Matilda Zettervall for their handiwork - Ed) as well as those on our on-line Christmas Card. See you on Tuesday! Swift snippets. 23rd December: 2005 ACU UK Top Fuel Bike Champion Steve Woollatt has asked us to inform racers that he is having a batch of inner and outer sprag races manufactured for the early B+J gearbox, and that he would be pleased to hear from racers who would like to order their own. "We plan to get the batch underway in January", says Steve. "Anyone who is interested please contact me on 07860 375500 (outside the UK +44 7860 375500)." Ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Steve Read is working very hard to bring a Top Fueller from Australia to race in Europe in 2006 after his visit to Santa Pod in September, says Heather Bond, but right now he has a race to contest. "We will be flying down to Sydney on Christmas Day as we are racing at Western Sydney on Monday and Tuesday", says H. "The web site address is www.wsid.com.au or you can get updates at www.dragsteraustralia.com.au." UK Wild Bunch racer Colin Stevens, having sold his Golddigger slingshot dragster, has now acquired the ex-Oblivion Hillman Avenger Funny Car (right). Colin cannot find a lot of pictures of, or information about, the FC and would be grateful to hear from any Eurodragster.com reader who can help. If you have any information on Oblivion then please drop Colin a line at colinhotrodts@btinternet.com. Colin also tells us that he can be found at all the usual locations with UK Nitro in 2006. Our good buddy Patrik Jacobsson tells us that a 2005 NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified Championship DVD is now available to European Pro Mod Association members. "Please send an E-Mail to info@promod.nu to order your free CD", says Patrik. "Please include the address you want to have it sent to. This DVD is for the private use of EPMA members only, the commercial version can be ordered via the Pod Shop link on Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.com for those who want to take a look at Europe's ultimate Doorslammers. Go get it!" Julie Willcox has been in touch to ask us to wish a big Happy Birthday to Shakespeare County Raceway Press Officer and regular Eurodragster.com contributor Jerry Cookson. We're very pleased to do so; have a great day Jerry. Please note that 22:00 UK tonight (Friday) is the deadline for news items for tomorrow's final pre-Christmas Eurodragster.com News update. Please send news items to news@eurodragster.com. Entry to the Christmas Card will also be closed at 22:00, please send Christmas greetings to christmas@eurodragster.com. After tomorrow's news update we will be taking a break until Tuesday (27th). 2006 UK Street Eliminator Championship. 22nd December: UK Street Eliminator class organiser Dale Reardon has been in touch with the proposed 2006 race dates for the class. The seven-round series on offer to Street Eliminator is by kind permission of Lee Child of LA Performance Services and Paula Marshall of Santa Pod Racers Club. ©Eurodragster.com Saturday-Sunday 1st-2nd April: Power Nationals, Shakespeare County Raceway Friday-Monday 14th-17th April: Easter Thunderball, Santa Pod Raceway Saturday-Sunday 29th-30th April: Shakespeare Nationals, Shakespeare County Raceway Saturday-Sunday 17th-18th June: SPRC Summernationals, Santa Pod Raceway Saturday-Sunday 22nd-23rd July: Bug Jam, Santa Pod Raceway Saturday-Monday 26th-28th August: Custom Car Magazine Allstar Nationals, Shakespeare County Raceway Saturday-Sunday 30th September-1st October: National Finals, Santa Pod Raceway Racers are reminded that to be eligible to race in 2006 they must be a member of APIRA or SPRC, hold an MSA Competition Licence, and join the Street Eliminator class. To join SE and to obtain a copy of the 2006 rules, contact Dale at hellstownchopper@aol.com. Child's thanks. 22nd December: Lee Child of LA Performance Services, who promote events at the UK's Shakespeare County Raceway, has been in touch to thank everyone involved for their efforts at SCR in 2005. "We've had a great season with a lot of positive aspects and so everyone involved should take a big pat on the back" says Lee, who jointly sponsors Eurodragster.com's Links pages through LA Racing Parts. "I have received a lot of positive E-Mails and phone calls from racers through the season for which I am very grateful. ©Eurodragster.com "I'd like to thank all of the racers who supported us this year, and everyone who supported both the permit and Test and Tunes events. A big Thank You goes to the APIRA staff and marshals for a great effort and for helping the events to run more smoothly. This goes hand in hand with the track preparation which was made possible by Darren Prentice and Jon Cross. Thanks also to Anthony Hodges for providing the facility. "Finally thank you to Tog, Sharkman and Simon of Eurodragster.com for the event coverage and for all the news items (You're welcome - Ed). "I have recently been to the USA to learn the latest ideas on track prep, to improve the track still further in 2006. In the meantime, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and I look forward to seeing everyone at Shakespeare County Raceway next season." The future's bright... 21st December: Team member Jason Yates has been in touch with the great news that the engine damage suffered by UK Outlaw Anglia racer Simon Barlow can be repaired and that the Orange Pop should be ready for race action next year. "We found out that we damaged the piston rings at the Halloween Showdown, which finished our season early", says Jay. The engine is at Andy Frost's Penn Autos and is currently awaiting parts from the States. We will be out to run quicker than 10.31 next year, maybe dipping into the nines on street tyres but we will have to wait and see for that. ©Eurodragster.com "Check out the Swap Meet as we have some parts for sale. "On behalf of Orange Pop Drag Racing I would like to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy New Year." Drag racing family trees. 21st December: Drag racing historian, nostalgia fan and regular Eurodragster.com contributor Jerry Cookson is offering a great new service to owners of vehicles who would like to trace the history of any car or bike raced in the UK since the 1960s. "I got the idea after tracing the history of the Texas Boogie/Future Force Competition Altered in response to a request on Eurodragster", says Jerry. "I found that it last raced at Santa Pod and a couple of on-tour meets in the 1980s. At the moment I have time on my hands and it's fun looking through my collection of British and European drag racing magazines, photos, programmes and race data collected over the years since the beginning of the sport proper in 1966, finding out exactly what times a particular vehicle was running, and at which events, at which track, in which year. It's kind of like tracing a vehicle's family tree." ©Eurodragster.com If you are interested in the history of your car or bike then get in touch with Jerry at quartermilenewsmakers@yahoo.co.uk and he will track it down and provide you with a detailed report together with copies of photos, programme notes and magazine articles from years gone by. We can vouch for Jerry's skills having received his help on historical matters on more than one occasion. Return Custom. 21st December: Custom Car magazine has confirmed its support for the 2006 Xtreme Wheels International show with a major display stand and a significant commitment to the pre-promotion of this international event. As an official media partner, the magazine has promised an even larger and more impressive stand than in 2005 as it presents a showcase of the very best cars from the UK and Europe to a wider audience, including a whole new generation of modifiers. The show takes place at London's Alexandra Palace on 25th and 26th February and brings together the UK's most spectacular collection of customised vehicles within a display of more than two hundred examples of extreme machinery, overflowing with chrome, polished bodywork and tuned engines. With many of these 'works of art' taking years to perfect, Xtreme Wheels International is guaranteed to amaze as it packs automotive power, motoring mayhem and the finest examples of customisation under one roof, supported by trade stands and live demos. "We're delighted to be involved in Xtreme Wheels International 2006", says Custom Car publisher Phil Weeden. "The show offers so much to a wide range of people. As the publishers of Custom Car Magazine, we're particularly pleased with the show because it acts as a fantastic 'season opener' for the hot rod scene with many exciting new cars being launched over the weekend. With customised modern vehicles also on display at the show, we also hope to bring an entire new audience to the exciting world of custom cars." Established in 1970, Custom Car Magazine is the authoritative voice of the UK's hot rod and drag racing scene featuring some of the country’s most outstanding customs as well as a comprehensive round-up of events. Tickets are now on sale with discounts offered to advance purchasers. Visit www.xwishow.com or contact the show organisers on 01483 236363. ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 21st December: Thanks again to Jerry Cookson for letting us know of the latest episode of drag racing on TV. "Tune into UK satellite and cable channel Men and Motors tomorrow (Thursday)", says Jerry. This week's episode of Wright Across America features former Arsenal and England star Ian Wright's introduction to drag racing roughneck style as he is strapped into a wheelstanding Big Block Chevy Camaro at a backwoods drag strip, complete with on-board cameras to record what looks like a scary ride!". Wright Across America screens on Men and Motors - Sky 136, NTL 404/109, Telewest 286 and Freeview 38 - at 20:00 tomorrow with repeats at 15:00 on Friday and 18:30 on Saturday. ©Eurodragster.com Attention UK Pro ET racers! 20th December: UK Pro ET racer Marius Blackburn has been in touch with a few matters requiring his fellow racers' attention. "I'm currently working on an end of year report for the Pro ET web site", says Marius. "I’m hoping for some help, so if any of you guys can send me a few details about your season, good, bad or indifferent, maybe send a picture or two, I will try to assemble a representative report involving everyone who contributes. What are your goals for the coming season? I could do with some information for the European Finals and UK National Finals as well! Please E-Mail me at mariusb@fsmail.net. ©Eurodragster.com "Bob Regis, who runs the Pro ET site, has mentioned that there hasn't been too much response with teams using the available space to promote themselves and their sponsors. So come on folks, Bob's done ninety per cent of the work, all you have to do is E-Mail him at bob@a2znorfolk.com and he’ll do the rest. Make an old man happy! "Carl Burton is again masterminding the Pro ET Sponsorship Scheme. Some companies have already pledged for the 2006 season and he is talking with others so again things are looking good. Registration forms will be available to download on the Pro ET web site in the near future. Remember: you gotta be in it to win it! Cheers everyone and Merry Christmas." Grateful Grumpy. 20th December: Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Paul Watson has thanked the Committee of Santa Pod Racers Club for his nomination for the James Edgar Memorial Trophy, for his work as Crew Chief on Jamie Sneddon's Super Street Bike. "It is indeed an honour but, as always, without the fantastic team behind me this would not have been possible", says Grumpy. "So a big thanks to Kim, Jules, Jamie and Kent Stotz, also for their belief in me to go to the USA and buy a bike they had not seen, bring it back and start to learn the new technology which is now more common in Super Street Bike. ©Eurodragster.com "We ran a best of 7.62 although the run against Roel Koedam at the European Finals was even quicker with a 1.26 sixty foot and 4.96 on the eighth, who knows it could have been a 7.4 or 7.5. We know there is more to come from the Blackbird and I'm sure that Jamie is quite comfortable on it now and is itching to turn it up. Look out for new records next year, he will be on a mission." Swift snippets. 20th December: Martin Schnitzler has been in touch to ask readers' help in identifying a hard-soldered and nickel-plated Puma frame of about 1980 vintage (right). "There is nothing known about the bike and how it used to look, but it is crying out to get on the road", says Martin. "I was told that Puma started out making grasstrack sidecar frames, with Gordon Matthews and Brian Ash pooling their skills. Later Gordon left and it appears that Brian may have continued making solo frames. Can anyone identify the frame, or put me in touch with Brian Ash?". if you can help then please drop Martin a line at puma108@arcor.de. ©Eurodragster.com Ruth Curbishley has been in touch to ask us to say a big Happy Birthday for last Sunday to UK Super Comp racer and painter extraordinaire Martin Curbishley. "I am sure that Martin won't mind me telling you that he is now fifty", says Ruth. Did you read that bit, Martin - it was Ruth said you were fifty, not us. Hope you had a good day. Koedam Racing season review. 20th December: Marius Van Der Zijden, Crew Chief for Dutch Top Fuel Bike racer Roel Koedam, has been in touch with a 2005 season review: As the holidays are approaching it's time for our usual review of the season. To capture it in one phrase, it was a season with a few unexpected surprises. During last winter, we carried out two major technical updates to the bike. The first one was the transmission. Thanks to our main sponsor, Zodiac, we replaced our B&J box with a spragless Scott Owens transmission. To make it fit was a real challenge, but we managed to squeeze it in our chassis. The new box worked flawlessly and didn't gave us any problems whatsoever during the 2005 season. The other major change that we've made was making bronze insert combustion chambers in the cylinder head. This too proved to be a good modification as the head and valves worked better then ever. We only had to replace one single exhaust valve all year and that was just because of a piece of porcelain (from a broken spark plug) which caused some damage to a valve and a seat. The season was not all "Days of Wine and Roses", however, as we, totally unexpectedly, hit severe piston blow-by right from the beginning of the season. Whilst the performance of the engine seemed to be just fine, we suffered unusually high crankcase pressure. In fact, it was so high that it badly deformed the oil sump and blew out nearly a quart and a half of engine oil through the crankcase ventilation into the catch tank. Once the bike was under power that happened in a matter of two to three seconds. As we initially couldn't find an answer to this problem, we withdrew from eliminations (after qualifying in the #2 spot) at the first FIM/UEM European Championship round at England's Santa Pod Raceway. We realised that the only way to solve the problem was track time. So we headed for our nation's season opener at Drachten in Holland. Sadly the only thing we could do there was fire it up as it rained persistently all weekend. So we didn't learn much. There was nothing else left but to take on the long trip to Alastaro Finland for the next FIM/UEM Championship round, only to find out that our problems were still present, if not even worse. Once again, as at the first championship round we decided to withdraw from eliminations. Again we gave away a good chance of valuable elimination round points but we found it not safe to run the bike under these conditions. The sad thing was that we qualified #1 at Alastaro. In order to solve our problem we looked in all kinds of directions and received a lot of advice from which we drew our own conclusions. The next opportunity to do more testing was again at Drachten, Holland, during the MPM Nationals. Despite performing spectacular demo runs for the spectators, our problems remained the same. The following event was the third round of the FIM/UEM European Championship at Sweden's Mantorp Park. In the process of finding a cure, we had tried all kind of things, and the number of possible solutions was shrinking each time we went out. We had however learned a lot in the meantime and for Sweden we had a new plan of attack. As they say, "There's always light at the end of the tunnel". And that light shone bright and clear for us as we discovered right after the first qualifying pass in Sweden. For the first time in a very long time, we had no oil at all in the catch tank, indicating that the crankcase pressure was finally back to normal. All our working around the clock and all the help we received in our hunt for a solution were not in vain. From that point on, we could concentrate on being in race mode again. By the time we finally found the solution for our engine problems a totally different kind of problem took over. That was the persistent presence of the liquid stuff one used to call rain. The last qualifying session had to be cancelled because of this and we remained in the #2 position. The rain stayed with us all night and well into Sunday (eliminations day). By the time the first round of eliminations (which we won) was finished it was already 17.00. Because of a time curfew there were no further elimination rounds. As we subsequently learned, rain would set the scene for the rest of the season. The next FIM/UEM European Championship round was Gardermoen Norway, traditionally one of the best tracks in Europe. Friday was normal qualifying which resulted in us being in provisional second spot. From there on the rain set in again and this time in force. We had at least four inches of water in our pit area. Saturday had no qualifying at all and Sunday was a wet day too with no racing. So the only thing that happened during the meeting was one qualifying session. For the fifth championship round we traveled to Hockenheim in Germany. This brilliant facility unfortunately has a poor reputation for traction. For this occasion however the organisers hired a few guys from the NHRA to assist them with the preparation of the track. This proved to be a wise decision, as although it was not up to the normal standards of a championship track, the Hockenheim traction was better then ever. It also looked like the traction would improve to a good standard during the event. The Hockenheim round takes place halfway through August and is usually blessed with hot summer conditions. Not so this time. Friday was nice and warm with normal qualifying. However there was a familiar sight on Friday night as dark clouds set in, pouring their contents over central Germany. This continued well into Saturday. It looked like there would be no qualifying at all on Saturday but during the day it cleared up. At the end of the day, we finished in the #2 spot and our datalogger told us that we had underestimated the track conditions, and there was clearly room for more. Sunday had, you guessed right, cool temperatures and drizzling rain well into the afternoon. The track guys worked very hard but couldn't get the run-off area completely dry. The single track dryer simply was not enough to work the long track. It was not safe for the two-wheeled monsters to attack the track and again there were no elimination rounds. For the third time in row the eliminations had to be cancelled due to rain! Ironically later that afternoon a number of cars (those with chutes) performed a show for the spectators and some even ran new track records. We felt very sorry that we (the entire bike contingent) couldn't be part of this, but safety comes first with us as we only have two wheels to rely on. After Hockenheim, we were in second position in the championship points table. Because of our withdrawal from eliminations during the first two championship rounds and with just one more round to go, our chances of taking home another (fifth) FIM/UEM European Championship title were only theoretical. However, the chances of dropping to third place were also minimal. Therefore we went to the European Finals with a more aggressive attack, hoping that the weather (for a change) would cooperate this time. The first day of qualifying (Friday) was indeed nice and warm. We made two decent passes and it looked to be a good first day. Waking up on Saturday, we heard a sound on the roof of our camper that we unfortunately knew all too well...raindrops! So much for qualifying. The 6.30 we set the day before was good enough for the #1 spot. Sunday didn't look too good either. It looked like we were facing another rain-off. Luckily it dried during the day and finally by 17.00(!) the first round of eliminations took place. Though the bike left real good (eighth mile ET was 4.0 seconds) it suddenly hit tyre shake halfway down the track, causing it to make a sudden move towards the centerline. Though Roel clicked it off, the harm was already done and the bike crossed the centreline taking out the timing mirrors. For as long as we can remember, we haven't done this before. Anyway, this disqualified us from further eliminations. At the end of the day we remained in the second spot of the FIM/UEM European Championship, handing over the #1 plate to our fellow racer and friend Ian King (please nurse it real good as we want it back next year!). By that time our planned race schedule was over. However, after overcoming the problems that we encountered at the beginning of this season, we were convinced that the bike was in better shape than ever before. Unfortunately weather conditions had prevented us from translating this statement into low numbers. Not happy with this situation we wanted to go out one more time this year. Three weeks after the European Finals was the ACU Finals (UK National Championship) at the same venue. We kept the bike together and would make the decision to go or not to go at the very last moment, depending on the weather outlook. The weather looked good, so down the road (or rather, on the ferry) we went. In fact it was a real Indian Summer weekend, only disturbed by a little drizzle late Saturday afternoon. Near perfect conditions that we were hoping for all year long. There was not much competition but our only goal was trying to run low numbers or even try to improve our personal record (of 6.04 sec). The outside temperatures were a little lower then usual and at first we had some problems adapting the fuel system to these conditions, resulting in a couple of early click-off 6.3 runs. The third and last qualifying run was cancelled because of the late afternoon drizzle mentioned above. That run was rescheduled to late Sunday morning. It was still dropping cylinders (too rich) at the top end and another 6.3 rolled out of the bag. The first and only elimination round was in the early afternoon. For that one we gave the clutch just a little tweak and warmed up the engine a little longer before pulling into the waterbox. The next thing was a 6.07/225 on the timing boards! The relatively low top end speed indicated an early shut off (according to the datalogger, 5.85 seconds). We now owned the quickest and the second quickest runs outside the USA! Better still the numbers at the eighth mile mark were 3.9/192, a new personal best eighth mile speed for us. Happy faces all around! We were allowed to make an extra exhibition pass. This time we gave it two per cent more (nitro) and oh boy how she loved it. Just the happy sound of the engine alone will get us through the winter. It left real good with a new personal best sixty foottime of 1.04. However the increase of power was just too much for the track conditions. From halfway down the track it was a little loose resulting in only a 6.13/231. Still, a respectable ET, specially considering the track conditions. On top of this we didn't had to do any work whatsoever on the engine itself. Even when we checked the engine after the weekend everything showed to be still in perfect shape, proving our expectations. After a disappointing start of the season, followed by the aggravation of more rain than an average drag racer can stand, we had proved that when the conditions are right we could unleash all the horses and run some great numbers. So a happy ending after a poor start to the season! Finally, we would like to remember the companies, without which none of this would be possible, in particular Zodiac International and Goedhals Machine Fabriek for their endless support during the difficult times this season. Thank you all very much and we hope to work with you again in 2006: Zodiac International, Mijdrecht, Holland (www.zodiac.nl) Goedhals machinefabriek, Amersfoort, Holland (www.goedhals.nl) Torco International Corp, U.S.A (www.torcoracingoils.com) Arie Molenaar Motors, IJsselstein, Holland (www.ariemolenaar-motors.nl) Arai Helmet (Europe) BV, Hoevelaken, Holland (www.araihelmet-europe.com) Nimbus Motorsport, GB (www.nimbusmotorsport.com) Dakota-Industry, Germany (www.dakota-industry.de) Flexion bv, Roermond, Holland (www.flexion.nl) Goodridge Benelux BV, Delft, Holland (www.goodridge.nl) Jan Smit's Power Parts, Wormerveer, Holland (www.jspp.nl) Jan Roelofs Race Service, Valkenswaard, Holland All of us at Koedam Racing Holland would like to wish you a merry Xmas and a healthy 2006! ©Eurodragster.com Web site updates. 20th December: UK Street Eliminator racer Andy Frost tells us that a new SE forum has been set up to replace the previous item which went offline last week. "It's bigger and a lot better than before", says Frosty. "Everyone is welcome to post news, views and more". You can find the new forum on the UK Street Eliminator web site at www.streeteliminatoruk.com. ©Eurodragster.com Another new ride for Erbacher. 19th December: 2005 FIA European Top Methanol FC Champion Urs Erbacher and the Fat Attack team celebrated their latest Championship with a party at their Arlesheim base on Saturday night. The party was great and went on well into the small hours, says team member Andrea Wucher, and Urs was presented with a very special gift. Click on any link for a picture. "Among the guests were our good friends and racers Markus Hilt, Dezsoe Krivan and the crew of Max Croot's Mad Max Racing", says Andrea. "It was snowing the whole evening, but the Englishman left his snowmobile at home. "They were all witnesses to the unveiling of Urs' new Funny Car and drag bike. Our sponsor SCS IT Procurement showed up with a state-of-the-art Funny Car as a reminder of three successful Top Methanol FC seasons in a row (right, click on picture for large version). We don't yet know if it will be a Nito or Top Methanol FC, but we know that it will be an eyecatcher wherever it shows up. Thanks again to the whole SCS IT Procurement team for the surprise and for the great partnership we have. "Second to be unveiled was the new Fat Attack Drag Race team drag bike. Last year Urs got a nice Breitling watch from the team. This year he has built his Championship gift on his own. The beautiful Champion's bike is ready to ride. It has already been exhibited, at the Custom Bike World Championship in Las Vegas in November, was seen on the streets of Monte Carlo a week ago, and will be on the street again. Now it is available for its audience, you can see pictures in the Custom Bike Photo Gallery in the German part of our web site at www.fatattack.ch." ©Eurodragster.com Urs and four members of the Fat Attack team will be headed to the USA on 4th January to visit Doug Herbert, from whom Urs has bought a Top Fuel Dragster. "The team will be trained by Doug Herbert's mechanics in all the skills they need to make quick turn-rounds and run fast and safely on parts", says Andrea. "Weather permitting Urs will make his first runs in his new Top Fuel Dragster. After that, the dragster will be loaded and shipped to Switzerland with all the parts we have ordered from Doug. As Wayne Dupuy is making good progress after his terrible accident we are confident of seeing him out on the race track and in the shop soon. In the meantime Jim Brissette will give us a hand with the tuning and set-up." The Fat Attack Supertwin crew is also busy preparing the Top Fuel Bike for the next season. "New parts are on their way from the USA to give us more power from the start line and more consistency", says Andrea. "The whole team is hungry to get out there and race again." Andrea says that Urs' Top Methanol FC is still for sale. "If you want a car which is carefree in operation, which is fast and has all the set-ups for the 2006 regulations then talk to us at bikes@fatattack.ch", she says. SPRC Perpetual Awards week 5. 19th December: Once again Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give readers the chance of input to the SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 4th February 2006. For each of the 2005 season awards, the SPRC Committee has decided upon a shortlist for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. There are seven awards in all: voting continues this week with the award for Most Professional Appearing Team and will continue over the next four weeks as each category is announced. Voting for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy will also be open for the whole of this period (see below). The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC Committee decides upon the winners. Please note that attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates or forum members to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. This week's vote, the fifth, is for Most Promising Newcomer. Nominees for Most Promising Newcomer have contested their first full season or made their on-track début in 2005. The list includes UK National Championship event winners and racers who have impressed for other achievements within their chosen classes. The SPRC Committee's shortlist for Most Promising Newcomer, in alphabetical order, is as follows: ©Eurodragster.com Graham Allen, Super Gas Gary Drury, Super Street Bike Vince Gibbs, Super Pro ET Dan Giles, Junior Dragster Tethys, Pro 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.com page. Voting is per Award, so if you have voted in the previous four categories then you can 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 UK Tech Inspector Geoff Martin. Again see the official web page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to 2005sprcawards@eurodragster.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Trophy as the subject and your nomination in the body of the mail. Next week's category will be the Paul Giddings Memorial Trophy. Swift snippets. 19th December: This week's World Motorsports show on the Sky Sports network includes a report from the recent Autosport Awards held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, writes Jerry Cookson. "What's the betting that the programme editors will include thirteen-time NHRA Funny Car Champion John Force collecting his Lifetime Achievement award, especially as the same programme last week featured coverage from the Bahrain Drag Racing Festival and nobody knew?", says Jerry. World Motorsports airs at 22:00 tonight (Monday) on Sky Sports Extra (404) with repeat showings at 03:00 and 10:00 tomorrow on Sky Sports 2 (402) and then at 14:00 on Sky Sports Extra. ©Eurodragster.com Holger Camilleri has been in touch to ask us to wish a big Happy Birthday to our good friend Elias Vathias of the Greek Dragster web site. "Elias is a wonderful person, full of energy and he is very dedicated in the DRC and mostly for his beloved site", says Holger. "Special greetings come from all the Greekdragster.com members and supporters". You can place your own bithday greetings on the Greek Dragster forum by clicking here. Have a very happy day, Elias. Eurodragster.com's last news update before Christmas will be the Christmas Eve update which will be posted overnight on Friday/Saturday. All news items and Christmas Card messages received by 22:00 on Friday will be included in this update. The first post-Christmas news update will be on Tuesday 27th. Brentwood moves to Purfleet. 19th December: Paul Marston has been in touch to let us know that the annual Brentwood International Racing Car Show has changed locations for 2006. The Show takes place on 21st-22nd January at Arena Essex in Purfleet, a few yards from the M25 motorway. "With limitless open space available at Arena Essex and the erection of a temporary building, a centrally-heated venue with limitless scope for expansion is now a reality", says Paul. "The show is still covering its usual two days, but now has the valuable added bonus of live action on the quarter mile Short Oval track. Each day now has a distinctively separate flavour. ©Eurodragster.com "Saturday is more oriented towards showcasing Short Oval racing with a full card of short oval classes to enjoy as well as the exhibits and the trade stands. Sunday will be more live action demos and more focus on the trade and static exhibit side of the show. "On Sunday there is also the possibility of some drag racing cars being able to put in some demo burnouts and practice launches. Anyone interested in this exciting new development please call me on 0208 597 4575 or 07831 650230, or E-Mail office@pmracing.fsnet.co.uk. "On top of all this there will be room for drag race machinery to go on static display in one of the centrally-heated temporary buildings. Space is limited but are interested in displaying a race car then please contact me on the above numbers or E-Mail address." Enter the Raider. 19th December: The body of Essex-based Drag Race Engineering's Super Gas/Pro ET Dodge Raider has finally returned from Trickitt Paint, painted and signwritten by Danny Klein, says Paul Marston. "Gary Springford is having an open house this week, and everyone is welcome to come and view the newest addition to the Paul Marston Racing squad line-up", says Paul. "This of course is Gary and the boys' first ground-up turn-key race car. Gary is a justifiably proud parent, having owned the Dodge Raider for a number of years. ©Eurodragster.com "The Raider boasts many innovative new features in design and structure and will be an exciting addition to drag racing in 2006. Testing starts as soon as the weather permits, and this exciting new race car will make its public début at Xtreme Wheels International at Alexandra Palace in February. "You can find Drag Race Engineering at Unit 4, Warren Farm, Whalebone Lane North, Chadwell Heath. Please call 0208 597 9484 for directions. To find out exactly what a Dodge Raider is called outside America come and take a look-see!" Super Modified explained! 18th December: Got a quick doorslammer? Want to go faster? UK Super Modified too much of a mystery or plain too technical? Come and join in or simply attend the first Super Modified - Rules Explained morning on Saturday 11th February, says racer Tim Garlick: ©Eurodragster.com The morning will help attendees overcome any confusion over engine and technical regulations, how they came about, what they are there for, how they are applied and how they allow doorslammers to produce over 1,000hp and run way down into the seven-second zone to a very manageable budget. Having been adopted into the MSA White Book, the current rule book has been completely stable for the last couple of years and it should be stressed that it will not be a forum for discussing technical changes, but rather an interactive explanation of current hardware, basic data-logging techniques, tuning and the relative merits of big- and small-block nitrous and normally-aspirated doorslammer racing. The informal meeting, at a venue to be confirmed, will be presented by Rob Loaring and attended by Super Modified racers representing various engine and chassis configurations to answer all of your questions. You can pre-register with the Super Modified Racers Association by E-Mail at kirk.family@ntlworld.com. Be Cool with ARRC. 18th December: What do you do if you want to fit a 1000 hp engine where a 100 hp lump used to live? One thing you'll need for sure is a new radiator and Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars are now importing the BeCool range of radiators designed for just that purpose, says Bob Roberts: The Be Cool product line has now grown to include more than seven hundred standard radiator applications as well as thermostats, electric cooling fans and other related cooling components, as well as the Cool Gear line of trailer organiser items and accessories. If there isn't anything in the standard line to suit your application then they can custom build whatever is necessary. The standard Be Cool applications are primarily for US cars and trucks from the fifties to the noughties in models for standard engines plus 400 hp, 700 hp and 1000 hp upgrades. In addition you can buy just the radiator or a module assembly which includes a genuine Be Cool crossflow aluminum radiator, a high-torque, European style electric fan or fans as horsepower requires in a euro black finish, aluminum fan mounting brackets, electric fan wiring harness, a diamond-cut, vented coolant recovery tank, a billet Be Cool radiator cap and all necessary installation hardware. The electric fans are designed to engage at 195 degrees and switch off when the coolant temperature reaches 175 degrees. This provides the ultimate in driver convenience and engine safety. The Sport Compact range includes some models which are available in Europe such as the Honda Civic so these may be a bolt-in replacement. Finally, if you want to dazzle anybody who looks under the bonnet then all the products are available in polished finish. You can find more information at www.robinson-race-cars.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Bowser's honour. 18th December: From Andy Robinson Race Cars to Andy Robinson's race car as team member Mark Balzaretti has been in touch with his reaction to his nomination for the James Edgar Memorial trophy in this year's Santa Pod Racers Club Perpetual Awards. "I feel very honoured that the SPRC Committee have shortlisted me for the James Edgar Memorial Trophy", says Bowser. "I also find this quite embarrassing, as on the Studebaker Pro Mod team we take pride in having no Crew Chief. All members of our team are equally valuable, everybody has input, decisions are taken collectively, and especially this year we have all worked very hard to make the switch to blown alcohol. "The rewards this has brought have been worth it. To see the '53 Stude piloted by Andy in the pitch dark at the European Finals, run a 6.28 (personal best) at 226 mph, on a cold track at 9:00 in the evening, beating Patrick Wikströ in the final, was truly a sweet moment. The car was so out of shape that I was sure that Andy was going to lift, but I don't think that thought entered his mind for one second, good job. ©Eurodragster.com "I feel that with our combination of chassis, engine, driver and crew, plus the decision to try to enter all rounds, the 2006 season is going to be very competitive. Hopefully with the '53 Stude at the top of the pile. "If we get enough votes to win - and good luck to the other five on the short list, except Luke! - I will feel honoured to accept on behalf of all the team of Andy, Kate, Jerry, Luke, Tom, Stefani, Bob and myself." Swift snippets. 18th December: Our good buddy Adam Charnley has been in touch to remind us that January's Autosport International will be hosting the final round of the F1 in Schools competition, in which teams of students design and build carbon dioxide-powered dragsters and race them on a scale drag strip. "The National finals are on the the Saturday and the International finals are on the Sunday", says Adam. "If you are at the show and into drag racing then you might want to take a look. You can be aure the Brits will need your support on the Sunday as they try to take the world crown off the yanks. We can't let them beat us this year!" ©Eurodragster.com From Bradenton to the UK for Christmas. 18th December: Released by Power Point Communications just in time for Christmas is Street Racers and Footbrakers. As the title implies, this ninety-minute DVD takes you to two very different competitions in the world of bracket racing, writes Jerry Cookson: The first stop takes us to Bradenton Motorsports Park, Florida for a Saturday afternoon eighth-mile 'Footbrake' bracket race. With a one-off prize fund of $10,000 to the winner it doesn't take long for the pits to swell out to over 120 cars in varying states of competitiveness. There's no electronic trickery here. That's banned. Its just you, against the clock and the other guy in the opposing lane and, oh yes, a quivering right foot as it hovers over the brake pedal. As the crew wanders through the pits there are plenty of car features and driver interviews and plenty of race action from the sixty or so first round races. Although Bradenton is set up as a full quarter-mile track, it's easy to see why these types of events are popular with the locals and racers from nearby states. Here you will find everything from NHRA-legal late-model stockers and gassers, V8-powered Mazdas, nostalgia Super Stockers plus the odd pick-up or daily driven rental car adding to the mix. From the 120 cars taking part, the final showdown pitched New Jersey resident Lee Zane driving an NHRA Stock Eliminator '73 Buick Apollo taking on a '70 Chevy Nova owned by Rod Johnson...but, you'll have to purchase the DVD to see the final outcome and who did pick up those $10,000 smackers. And if that wasn't enough, they did it all over again under warm February Sunday sunshine for another $10,000 purse. Big bucks racing or what! With the Florida sunshine now just a distant glimmer in the producer's eye, the plot moves back to the UK to cover American Car World magazine's 2005 Saturday Street Racer series, with the first round held at Shakespeare County Raceway in April. Here we begin to pick up the varying contrasts of low-buck racing in the States and what it amounts to in the UK. Although there's no high dollar purse involved, the racing that goes on in this series still quite intense. You can definitely see a pattern from the investment in the cars to see who's in it to win it. ©Eurodragster.com Again, there are plenty of driver interviews together with a couple of on-boards with Mark Bracking's SBC-powered '53 Ford Pop and eventual series champion Andy Bond in his low nine-second ex-NHRA Pro Stock Chevy Camaro. Action comes from various events at both Shakespeare County and Santa Pod Raceways but the commentary, supplied by voice of the Mopar EuroNats Martin Bennett, is kept to a minimum with brief descriptions of what the viewer needs to know. Priced at £15.95 plus postage and packing, this could be the answer to your last-minute Christmas present agony for the bracket racer in your life. You can check it out together with the other great titles available from Power Point Communications at www.quartermilehigh.com. If you get your order in now you'll get it before Christmas Eve, that's provided that Santa hasn't hijacked your copy, bolted a monster V8 onto his sleigh and gone sled racing at the North Pole Iceway! The Trip To America revealed. 16th December: Eurodragster.com is very pleased to welcome Blueprints For Travel Ltd as a Home and News page sponsor. Blueprints For Travel Ltd. was founded in 2005 to devise and develop special-interest travel itineraries. Its director, Robin Jackson, has followed drag racing for almost forty years and spent some of that time as a freelance photo-journalist reporting NHRA racing for UK publications. Blueprints For Travel have now announced full details of their spectacular Trip To America which is the dream holiday for drag racing fans. Drag Racing USA - The Trip To America is a three-week holiday for UK and European drag racing enthusiasts taking place in October and November 2006. The Trip will focus on three principal attractions: NHRA's season-ending Powerade Drag Racing Series events at Las Vegas and Pomona and the SEMA Show, the enormous automotive trade show held each year at the Las Vegas Convention Center, which does not grant public admission. The Trip is presented by Trailfinders, the leading UK travel company, in conjunction with drag racing specialist Blueprints For Travel, which has arranged the programme of events. This is believed to be the first time a travel company of Trailfinders' prominence has addressed the drag racing market in Britain. The Trip will go on sale to the public at Christmas 2005. The Trip will provide the best of 330 mph NHRA drag racing. Guests will enjoy official hospitality and premium seating programmes at both events - Club Nitro/Platinum Seating at the ACDelco NHRA Nationals at The Strip At Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Top Eliminator Club at the Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway At Pomona. The SEMA Show - officially described as 'the world's premier automotive specialty products trade event' but popularly known as 'the biggest and best car show in the world' - is a trade show not open to the general public. However, Trip To America guests will be admitted by special invitation on all four days of the Show. There will be informal "welcome" receptions, with buffet suppers and refreshments, held in spectacular locations on the eve of each race - "Welcome To Las Vegas" in a private suite overlooking Las Vegas Motor Speedway, "Welcome To Pomona" in the hallowed halls of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. The Trip will also include a visit to John Force Racing, the palatial headquarters of drag racing's most successful winning team. Guests will receive six-month memberships of NHRA, including twenty four weekly issues of National Dragster, and exclusive 'Trip To America' apparel designed and manufactured by NHRA's official uniform supplier, Phoenix Custom Apparel, as a unique memento of their Trip. The Trip's itinerary contains a full week of free days between the organised events, during which guests will be able to make the most of their stay in one of the world's outstanding holiday destinations. As Trailfinders clients, they will have access to all Trailfinders' travel services, including its extensive range of activities, excursions and tours. The Grand Canyon is just one of the myriad attractions for which the region is famous. Other racing events are scheduled to take place during this period. They include: Goodguys Fuel & Gas Finals at Bakersfield - 500 nostalgia race cars on track and 1500 rods, customs and classics on show; Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Division 7 finale - NHRA's largest Sportsman-only gathering, drawing 900 entries to The Strip At Las Vegas Motor Speedway; The Fall Classic, high-speed short-track racing under the lights around The Bullring, LVMS' three eighth-mile paved oval. Sprint-car action may also take place on LVMS' Dirt Track (tba). These other races are not part of The Trip's itinerary but may be of interest to guests. ©Eurodragster.com The Trip To America departs London Gatwick Airport on Tuesday 24th October 2006 and returns on Tuesday 14th November, arriving at Gatwick the following day. The Trip's package will include hotel accommodation to cover the events at Las Vegas and Pomona and car rental. Mini-Trips (Las Vegas only, Pomona only) are available to guests who cannot find the time for the full three weeks. For enquiries, and to book The Trip To America, telephone Trailfinders on 0845 0505 955 (from outside UK: +44 20 7938 3858), visit the official web site at www.trip2america.co.uk, or click on the Trip to America logo at left. We are very pleased to welcome Blueprints For Travel as a sponsor. Eurodragster.com's sponsors have always offered a one-stop solution to readers and we are very proud to extend this service still further with the opportunity for drag racing fans to book a dream holiday in the USA. We are very grateful indeed to Robin Jackson for his support. Bond's big step up. 16th December: Joe Bond has been in touch with an update on his blown-alcohol altered, in which he plans to compete in the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association in 2006. "We hope to bring the car out in March 2006 to make my licencing runs before the first NFAA round at Easter", says Joe. "Our combination will be the hemi from the Shell Racing Top Methanol Dragster with a smaller supercharger and the three-speed Lenco. "The car is gradually coming together (right), but as time goes on I'm getting more and more excited about getting into the car for the first time, however the step-up from Junior Dragster to the altered is going to be huge to say the least." Joe will be posting photo updates at fuelaltered.fotopic.net. Swift snippets. 16th December: Thanks to our good buddy Patrik Jacobsson for letting us know that Swedish Pro Modified racer Roger Johansson has taken delivery of a new Mustang body for his low six-second Mölndal Speed Shop car. You can see pictures at www.mdrf.se. ©Eurodragster.com Mark Bishop of the 1320 Rushden Rebels has been in touch to thank everyone who responded to his request here on Eurodragster.com for information and pictures of the Texas Boogie and Future Force altered. "Particular thanks to Reg Butcher (original owner of Texas Boogie), Jerry Cookson and Dave Grabham", says Mark. "I have now updated our web site at www.1320rebels.co.uk with all the information and pictures to give everyone a look at some of the history of the car. Also added are Parts For Sale and the latest on the Topolino's progress." Web site updates. 16th December: Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Air Sea Logistics have given their web site a major overhaul with a snazzy new logo and colour scheme and detailed information of all of the services on offer from the shipping company of choice for a large number of European racers. Air Sea Logistics can handle the shipment of everything from complete vehicles to engines and parts from anywhere on the planet to anywhere on the planet - most recently arranging the shipment to vehicles to and from Bahrain for the Invitational - and you can find out how at www.airsealogistics.com. ©Eurodragster.com Lorentzon and Möller and Fällström. 15th December: Sweden's Lorentzon and Möller Top Fuel Dragster team will be fielding two cars in 2006. Kenneth also tells us that the Danish crew led by Karsten and Per Andersen have left the team. Kenneth says that the change in personnel will not hurt the team performance-wise. "Maybe we will be a little slower in the pits", he says. "I will just have to tell the Chef to keep the dinner on the stove for five minutes longer. But then again you don't win races in the pits." ©Eurodragster.com Kenneth and driver Tommy Möller are currently working to put together a crew for both Top Fuel Dragsters. "Håkan is bringing his whole crew over to wrench the car", says Kenneth. "He ran the nasty black '66 Ford Fairlaine to mid 6.4s and is used to Hemi engines. I will tune both cars, which will give me some opportunity to try some other stuff which I've been thinking over for a long time." The team's first outing of 2006 will be at Santa Pod Raceway's Easter Thunderball where Håkan will be making licencing passes. "It will be a good start for the team to get up to speed", says Kenneth. "It should be really interesting to see how close we come to a sixteen-car field in 2006, and how the promoters, track owners and clubs handle that", adds Kenneth. "I hope they are prepared, they should see it coming now." Kenneth also asked us to congratulate UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter on his season-ending four-second pass at the Flame and Thunder Show. Stay tuned for more news from the Lorentzon and Möller team, and also for the new version of the TF25 web site which Kenneth tells us will be released before the end of this month. Turbo fit for 2006. 15th December: UK Supertwin racer Ian Turburville's two-bike team seems to be on track for 2006, he says. "I have a new and very qualified crew chief, Brum, from Ilmore engineering, Mr. Spokehead is almost done and looking awesome, Rush's 'Low rider' is well on its way and we have picked up another sponsor, the GATES Corporation, which is great news indeed!", says Turbo. "They join our established team members, namely S&S, Red Line Oil, JIMS, Custom Chrome, Zodiac, Sprint Dampers, Pro-Mod Engineering and King Racing. Without the help of these great companies we just couldn't race, so big thanks and a very Merry Xmas to them. "Oh crap, socks for Christmas! Well, you will just have to treat yourself then! Fancy a Harley drag bike for 2006 at an unbelievably low price? I have put together a kit for someone to finish off, easy job and fun, you will end up with a Pro Dragster / Pro Fueller or Top Gas Bike for under £10k running! It has a freshly-built 114ci Bill Furr/Jim McClure, billet, four-cam fuel motor with exhausts and manifolds. Also a chromoly chassis with RC comp wheels with good slicks and Ceriani forks with ART controls. The chassis is a complete roller with bodywork, fuel, oil, battery and air tanks, motor plate, front pulley, wheelie bars, sprockets and brakes. All you have to do is fit the motor into the chassis and get a clutch and a few bits - I might have a line on some of those - and there are some spares. This will make a great, lightweight, Top Gas or Pro Drag bike which will be a lot of fun to race and easy on the pocket. All this lot for a measly £8000 ono! I may take a Harley street bike or Yank day-van or 4x4 in part exchange. E-Mail me at topfuelturbo@ntlworld.com for photos. "Last minute items for Christmas: one Simpson Snell M rated BANDIT med/large white - this is an American Bandit, not ECE, and is the only American Simpson legal for ACU racing. Simpson helmet bags, heavy duty-fur lined! One pair of fantastic Simpson Sprintcar black leather driving shoes, size UK 10. Lots of other stuff, cheap, including some bigger Top Fuel Bikes! Check it out at www.turboville.com/turbo-7/classifieds.htm. "Now let's eat and drink to excess, for 2006 is just around the corner and that means time to get race fit! Yeah, right!" ©Eurodragster.com 2005 Season Review DVDs coming. 15th December: Rick Cuthbert of Trakbak Racing has been in touch with the latest news on the 2005 FIA and FIM/UEM European Championship and NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified Season Review DVDs. "Unfortunately the DVDs will not be ready for delivery in time for Christmas, but they will be available for delivery as soon as things start up in the New Year", says Rick. "Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.com will be updated shortly with an order form for download and printing. The prices have been confirmed as follows: ©Eurodragster.com FIA European Championship: £16.99 FIM/UEM European Championship: £14.99 NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified: £14.99 Supersaver, all three DVDs: £35.00 "All of the DVDs will also be available from the Santa Pod stand at Autosport International in January." Swift snippets. 15th December: Also on the subject of Santa Pod Raceway merchandise, SPR's Marketing and Promotions Executive Jo Harris tells us that the deadline for orders to be delivered in time for Christmas is 9:00 am this Monday, 19th December. You can find a catalogue and downloadable order form at www.santapod.com or call 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828). ©Eurodragster.com Charlie Revell, nephew of late UK Pro Fuel and Funny Car racer Tony Boden, is interested in receiving photographs or information about Tony's racing career. If you can help then please drop Charlie a line at charlierevell@gmail.com. Thanks to Kev Charman for letting us know that UK drag bike team owner Paul Rose is opening up his own Race Rock diner at his Feltham mansion between 19:00 and midnight next Friday, 23rd December. A buffet, wine and beer will be served as well as free salmonella and listeria which is "All you get from me for nothing". All who know Paul are welcome. For more details call 07710 319883 or 0208 844 1455. Web site updates. 15th December: Our good friend Alan Currans has been in touch with news of the latest update to his excellent Acceleration Archive. "The fourteenth Readers' Gallery majors on bikes", says Alan. "There are pictures of the first eight-second bike submitted by Keith Parnell who built and rode it, and a superb selection of bike pictures which pre-date drag racing in the UK submitted (rather surprisingly) by Peter Crane who was the first man in Europe to drive a Top Fuel Dragster into the fives. There are also some very interesting shots submitted by Glenn Ramsden of UK Event Safety, and a brilliant painting of Colin Mullan's awesome London Heavy Pro Stocker". You can check all of this out at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Santa Pod Raceway's web site has been updated with a 2005 season review at www.santapod.co.uk/e_season_review.php and a preview of the 2006 Easter Thunderball - which will celebrate Santa Pod Raceway's fortieth birthday - at www.santapod.co.uk/e_easter.php. Santa Pod repeat Autosport show. 14th December: After another record-breaking season, Santa Pod Raceway is delighted to announce the return of its hugely popular drag racing stand at the 2006 Autosport International, which takes place at Birmingham's NEC on Saturday-Sunday 14th-15th January. Once again, the stand will showcase some of the finest drag racing vehicles - amongst the fastest land-based vehicles on Earth, writes Caroline Day of Santa Pod: Our featured cars this year include the Martin Hill's spectacular Jet Funny Car Fireforce 3 which in 2005 set a World Record for the fastest Jet car quarter mile run ever. Beating the previous record from America, Martin powered this awe-inspiring machine to achieve an incredible 336.10 mph in 5.793 seconds which is the fastest quarter mile terminal speed by a Jet-powered drag racer on the planet! Drag Racing's premier class is represented by former FIA Champion Andy Carter with his B&Q-sponsored Top Fuel Dragster. This 8000 bhp missile is capable of over 300 mph in less than five seconds and Andy will be happy to enlighten you about his experiences behind the wheel, or talk to his Crew Chief and mechanics about the technical set-up of this racing beast! The Showtime Funny Car continues the nitro theme this year together with Santa Pod's own Supertwin Bike - a two-wheeled monster capable of over 200 mph! Santa Pod Raceway has always been synonymous with the traditional drag racing and Hot Rod scene but these days the new kids on the block parade their highly tuned and modified street cars on the track at many of the new specialist and Modified car festivals. Take a look at our ten-second Japanese street-legal car and see for yourself! Santa Pod has always welcomed the younger race fan and has proved to be a very popular venue with families. If you visit the stand this year then bring your camera and have a very special souvenir picture taken with Nitro our dragon mascot whilst sitting in Santa Pod's very own Junior Dragster (Your kids, not Nitro - Ed). Before you leave, pick up your free copy of Your Guide to Santa Pod Raceway and all the 2006 events on a free poster/wall planner. The 2005 European season review DVDs will also be available as well as Santa Pod merchandise. Our staff look forward to seeing you over the weekend. ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 14th December: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter's weekend Banger Racing exploits at Wimbledon are featured in this week's issue of Motorsport News. Andy tells us that he had a great time and that it was nice to keep his hand in. "It was a massive field", he says. "I started near the back, worked my way up to third, then got punted into the fence and hit my knee on the dashboard". You can read more in Motorsport News which is available from all good newsagents for £1.99. ©Eurodragster.com Also on the subject of Motorsport News, a big Congratulations and good luck to Jim Holder who is taking over as Editor of the weekly journal. We happen to know that Jim likes drag racing, so in combination with Jo Holland's excellent coverage Motorsport News' continued support for our sport should be assured. H2O2 clear to launch. 14th December: Erik Bengtsson has been in touch to let us know that his company Peroxide Propulsion has been granted all the necessary permits for the production of one hundred tons of hydrogen peroxide per year - hydrogen peroxide being one of the traditional propellants for rockets cars and bikes. "Lower grade hydrogen peroxide will be concentrated to 80-90% concentration in the plant, and treated by special processes to produce very pure products well suited for gas generation and rocket propulsion", says Erik. "Construction has started on the new plant located in Gothenburg, Sweden, and products will be available from April 2006. Peroxide Propulsion will be the first commercial producer in the Nordic countries and one of three in the Western world. ©Eurodragster.com "I can give you design advice if you want to build a hydrogen peroxide rocket dragster. Please contact me at erik.a.bengtsson@telia.com or look at the web site at www.peroxidepropulsion.com." Web site updates. 14th December: Steph Milam has been in touch to let us know that the She Devil Racing web site at www.shedevilracing.co.uk has been updated with the latest from her Top Methanol FC workshop. ©Eurodragster.com Identity, by the numbers. 13th December: As racers' thoughts turn towards preparing their cars and bikes for the 2006 season, our good friend, photo-journalist Roger Gorringe has been in touch with a plea to help the media to identify their race vehicles: It's got to be a pretty easy life these camera toting guys have, getting into race events for free, snapping a few photos of race cars and bikes from privileged positions, selling loads of photos at huge profits and ambling around chatting to racers the rest of the time. Yeah, right! An average day at the track starts before the event begins and does not end with the last pass (Hear, hear - Ed). Like the track crews, officials and most racers, time is called after everything is checked, repaired, readied and/or downloaded. Then in the case of some photo-journalists race reports have to be written, generally to a tight deadline and generally hundreds of that day's photos sorted and some sent to publications or clients all for certainly little monetary gain or in most cases just a name credit! To echo a piece from Phil Burgess, the Editor of the NHRA's National Dragster, just over a year ago, racers can make photojournalists' lives a little easier and in the process get themselves more recognised, not to mention assisting in any current or future articles or even history books. A good paintjob (preferably not dark or black) makes the vehicle stand out (from a black track), your name or a sponsor if you are lucky enough is another good means of identification, but it is the race number that is the most instantaneously acknowledged point of reference. Luckily event programmes these days are fairly comprehensive and contain details of all but very late entrants. Most importantly however, remember it is not just the timing crews who need to see your race number - it would be a great help if it could be seen from all angles, front, back and both sides! They do not have to be huge or overpowering - just noticeable. Lack of identifiable and visible race numbers is nothing new, it's an age-old problem which has plagued editors and researchers since the beginning. ©Eurodragster.com In a recent episode to illustrate the point, I came across a hoard of unmarked photos in my thirty-odd years worth of negatives and slides. I had committed my own most cardinal sin, I had not catalogued them as I normally do, having thought "I'll do them another time" and then forgetting them! I paid for it in the long run as several weeks - yes, full weeks, went into the research in order to put driver/rider names, country of origin, class as well as the date on each photograph. I had to research many copies of my old publication Drag Racing News as well as past programmes and various other publications in order to try and track down each frame. All were finally identified but not all had visible markings making for much head-scratching. Memories and recollections can work sometimes but not always these days - what am I writing about? So now would be a good time to take on board the extra expense and weight of a few letters and numbers when you start to ready your pride and joy for the 2006 track action. And it will aid not just this old hack to keep his records straight! Remember it could help get your vehicle in print, if it's unidentifiable most picture researchers and editors will ignore it and if they do so do potential sponsors! Swift snippets. 13th December: Congratulations to 2005 FIM/UEM Supertwin Champion Ronny Aasen and his partner Venja on the birth of their son. Our good buddy Ian Turburville tells us that the as-yet-unnamed team member tipped the scales at 4.4 kg when he arrived at 4:00 this morning (Tuesday). "It looks like there is something going on with the nitro Harley racers this Christmas", says Turbo. "Brett, Ronny, who's next?" ©Eurodragster.com Via our good buddy Gareth Evans of UK1320 we have received an enquiry-cum-offer from Ross Bell of Amber Communications Management in Kent. Ross wonders whether any racers on this side of the Pond use Ethanol as a fuel, as he has four thousand litres seeking a buyer. As far as we know, Ethanol is only used by racers in the USA, most notably Mark Thomas, but if you use Ethanol and would be interested in doing a deal then you can contact Ross at ross.bell@ambercomm.com. ARRC take the wheel. 13th December: Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars has become an agent for American Racing Pro Series Wheels, says Bob Roberts: American Racing have been manufacturing top quality wheels for fifty years and their Pro Series is a top-of-the-range product designed for Professional use in drag racing. They are available in front sizes from 15 x 3 to 17 x 2.15 and rears (right) from 15 x 8 to a whopping 16 x 16 with and without single or double bead locks. There is a size here to suit everybody in the Pro and Super classes. Not just automotive bling, these wheels not only look good but they have an impeccable racing record. Andy Robinson Race Cars have bought a set to fit their '53 Studebaker as they prepare for an assault on the new FIA Pro Mod European Championship in 2006. After examining the quality of the product they have become UK agents for the sale of these wheels. More information and links at www.robinson-race-cars.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Web site updates. 13th December: As promised, 2005 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Lex Joon has updated his web site with some photographs from the weekend's FIA Banquet in Monaco. Check it out at www.lexjoonracing.nl. ©Eurodragster.com SPRC Perpetual Awards week 4. 12th December: Once again Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give readers the chance of input to the SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 4th February 2006. For each of the 2005 season awards, the SPRC Committee has decided upon a shortlist for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. There are seven awards in all: voting continues this week with the award for Most Professional Appearing Team and will continue over the next four weeks as each category is announced. Voting for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy will also be open for the whole of this period (see below). The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC Committee decides upon the winners. Please note that attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates or forum members to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. This week's vote, the fourth, is for the James Edgar Memorial Trophy. The James Edgar Memorial Trophy is awarded for outstanding performance by a Crew Chief. This year's shortlist includes the Crew Chiefs of UK and ACU National Champions as well as European and National record holders. The SPRC Committee's shortlist for the James Edgar Memorial Trophy, in alphabetical order, is as follows: ©Eurodragster.com Mark Balzaretti, for Andy Robinson (Pro Modified) Kenny Coleman, for Ian Tubb (Super Pro ET) Dave Friend, for Gary Jones (Comp Bike) Peter Knight, for Jon Webster (Top Fuel Dragster) Luke Robinson, for Colin Lazenby (Street Eliminator) Paul Watson, for Jamie Sneddon (Super Street 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.com page. Voting is per Award, so if you have voted in the previous three categories then you can 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 UK Tech Inspector Geoff Martin. Again see the official web page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to 2005sprcawards@eurodragster.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Trophy as the subject and your nomination in the body of the mail. Next week's category will be Most Promising Newcomer. Molinari launches clutch service. 12th December: Many thanks to our good friend Gittli Koller for letting us know that Bob Molinari, formerly of Crower Clutches, has now set up his own business and would be pleased to serve racers in Europe. Bob has more than thirty years of experience in the field. "Molinari Racing Products are committed to providing the finest in centrifugal or centrifugal assisted pedal style racing clutches for most sportsman drag race applications", says Bob. "Along with manufacturing and sales of new units we are also supplying parts and service for existing and slipper and pedal clutches. We will keep popular rebuild parts in inventory to give you fast and dependable service. Of course all parts will meet SFI criteria. ©Eurodragster.com "Along with our commitment to supply you with any of your required parts, we are also here to answer any clutch questions and concerns you may have, regardless of what brand clutch you run." If you would like to talk to Bob then you can E-Mail him at bobmolinari@cox.net or call (+1) 609 628 0109. Swift snippets. 12th December: We would like to wish a very Happy Birthday to Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor, Pro Stock Bike racer, and Super Street Bike Crew Chief Paul Watson. Hope that you have a great day, Grumpy. ©Eurodragster.com Christmas Card opened. 12th December: We are pleased to announce that Eurodragster.com's annual on-line Christmas Card is now open. You can view it by clicking here or by clicking on the Christmas Card link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. ©Eurodragster.com If you would like to send a Christmas greeting to your fans, fellow racers, Eurodragster.com readers or staff then please send an E-Mail to christmas@eurodragster.com and we will place it on the Card. Carter Motorsport December update. 11th December: "What a ride! What a ride! That was awesome!" were the words which UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter jumped up and down with excitement shouting at the Fire and Safety Crew, two car lengths into the field at the end of Santa Pod's shutdown area at the Flame and Thunder Show in November. Andy had just run 4.899/301.26 in the Carbon By Design Top Fueller which was driven this year by Jöran Persåker. "The safety crew asked me "Are you OK? You came by bloody fast!" and then my crew got there and the jumping up and down and cuddling started!", says Andy. "Let's go back a bit though. Knut Söderquist had asked me to drive Jöran's car at the Flame and Thunder after Chris Andrews had not been able to make it. The instructions were to shut off at a thousand feet. "Yea, of course Knut" I replied. Sarah, Albert and I got to Santa Pod nice and early so that I had time to meet the crew and familiarise myself with the car. I had asked my own Crew Chief Ben Allum to attend as moral support, it's good to have a familiar face around you when your strapping in and I also wanted to see what we could learn from another team. The first run was about 1.30 against Jon 'Spiderman' Webster. The car left real good, was smooth and I knew it was on a good one, at eight hundred feet I thought "I've got to drive this right through, it's pulling too hard, through the finish line and I reached down for the chutes and pulled them, then shut off the fuel. Meanwhile nothing had happened chute wise so I thought I must have missed the lever, reached down to check and it was definitely pulled, no I got that, all this time I was hard on the brakes. My next thought was that I may just stop on the edge of the field, but then it started taking off and bouncing and brakes are no good while your wheels are in the air. Then I thought no, I'm definitely going in and there I was, what a ride! 4.89/302 mph in November! I hope and I'm sure that will stand for a long time! Not sure who all the crew were but thanks to King Knut, Alan Jackson, Mark Turner, the Animal, Cliff Gould, Sue and all the others, it was a good day! "I'm really excited about tonight (Sunday) as I'm going back to my roots. Yes, I'm racing a banger at Wimbledon! It's called Metro Madness, so you guessed it, I'll be in a Metro, number 500. I'm looking for the win, but there have been times at Wimbledon when I've been stuck in a post after two laps so who knows! "Back to the serious business of drag racing and Carter Motorsport. There have been some more changes in the team line up for 2006. First, Jim Tucker has decided that Top Fuel drag racing takes up to much time so has left. Thanks Jim, shame to lose you, you were very good and there's always a place here for you! It is with great pleasure that I welcome back Alec Barker and Chris Barnes, both first class technicians who spent 2001, 2002 and 2003 with me. I must also welcome on board three brand new team members: Jan Broersma, Alan Baird and Guy Burtonshaw. Jan and Alan both have great CVs, but TF's a lot tougher than writing a list of stuff on a piece of paper as they are about to find out, but that said they're both hungry and I usually make good choices so I'm sure they will do me proud! Guy will be handling all the logistics for the team through his company Uniquevents, their web site can be found at www.uniqueventsltd.com. "Sponsors are starting to reconfirm for 2006. Already re-signed to support the team again are, B & Q, Pioneer Print, K&N, Crane Cams, Rainbow Conference Sets (01895 814800), BMRS, Gold RV, Juice and Lucas Oils, who have stepped up their support big time in 2006. "We will be at the opening of a brand new B & Q in Milton Keynes (just off Junction 14 of the M1) this Thursday, 15th December, so if anyone's got some spare time then pop over and say hello. "Keep your eyes out, there is more big news coming from Carter Motorsport early in the New Year. I may not have the number one on my wing at the moment, it's on loan, and that means I'm even hungrier than ever. I'm doing my best to make sure that Joon, Möller, Kågered etc. suffer next year, although Möller and Kågered may have suffered enough over the last couple of seasons...nah, course not, they can take a bit more! "We have had plenty of bookings for Inside Top Fuel but there's plenty of space, so check it out at www.andycarter.net/insider.htm and book yourself a day with the best team in Europe! "That just leaves me to say have a great Christmas and New Year, see you at Autosport 2006." ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 11th December: Friday's FIA Banquet, at which the 2005 FIA European Champions received their trophies, is scheduled to be screened across Europe on satellite and cable channel Eurosport tomorrow (Monday) at 23:30 CET/22:30 UK. ©Eurodragster.com UK Pro ET racers Iain and Liz Malcolm have been in touch to let us know that they are OK after a rude awakening at dawn this morning. "We were woken by the blast from Buncefield oil depot", say Iain and Liz. "All of our family living in the area are well, although some of their houses are slightly damaged - and they live about two miles away! The columns of black smoke (right) blocked the morning sun for several hours, it was and still is an awesome but worrying sight." Shiny happy PMR. 11th December: The off-season usually means that there is more to do than during the race season, says the UK's Paul Marston: During the year, careful notes are kept on all the Paul Marston Racing Drag School Cars, areas we can identify where improvements can possibly be found. These usually fall into three categories: usability, weight saving and performance, which is usually in the chassis and suspension rather than solely the motor. All of this obviously is in addition to the usual off-season overhaul and servicing work which all the PMR Drag School racecars undergo, all of which is performed exclusively at the Drag Race Engineering Workshops (0208 597 9484). With Drag Race Engineering's recent move into much more spacious facilities, nearly everything can be undertaken under one roof. The only jobs currently farmed out are paintwork, due to the dust generated and the focus on the building side. The PT Bruiser currently resides at DRE with the fuel injection and petrol injection systems well underway. Unfortunately work commitments mean that Paul Marston is usually flat out at his real job at this time of year, so progress on the Bruiser is really slow. But the injection system looks absolutely fantastic due mainly to the polishing of many of the custom-fabricated aluminum parts. All this work plus chroming and all other manner of nice shiny stuff comes courtesy of KK Plating and Polishers. ©Eurodragster.com KK Plating and Polishers, based in Harold Wood in Essex, are a new company formed from the ashes of a much bigger commercial outfit which went bust just under a year ago. They bought equipment from the old company to start up on a much smaller scale. Due to low overheads their prices are extremely reasonable and their quality is really that good. Their triple chroming is the deepest we have ever seen: their secret is that they polish it first before chroming, it's all in the detail. To see some examples of their work, just stop by Drag Race Engineering to see examples on customers cars - steering arms and shafts, suspension arms, shifter mounts, four-link bars etc. You can deal direct with them on price, Drag Race Engineering already have a weekly collect and drop off arrangement establised with KK established. So if you fancy treating your race car, street machine or hot rod give Gary a call on 0208 597 9484. Their work is the best we have ever seen, second to none with a turnaround guaranteed at less than five days. It has added that finishing touch at a competitive price. So hopefully the PT Bruiser will be finished prior to Christmas. What a Christmas present that will be, now where's that wrapping paper! Joon ready for ambassador rôle. 10th December: 2005 FIA Top Fuel Dragster Champion Lex Joon collected his his FIA European Championship trophy at the FIA Banquet last night together with Dave Wilson, Urs Erbacher and Jimmy Ålund. Lex says that he never thought that it would be him holding the Championship trophy. ©Eurodragster.com "I am proud to be the first Dutchman ever to go to Monaco to get an award as FIA Champion", Lex told Eurodragster.com yesterday. "It's the first time I have been in Monaco - Dave, Urs and Jimmy have been there before. All through the years as I read the news on Eurodragster about Champions collecting their trophies I always thought that it was a serious task to stand as a representative of our sport. It was always interesting to see how they performed at the ceremony, and whether they were ambassador you thought you would be if you had the chance to stand there getting the honours." Lex got that chance last night and he said before the ceremony that he felt proud to represent the sport. "These honours can only be won because of the spirit of community in drag racing", he said. "I feel blessed and proud to be a part of the drag racing family, and I can promise you that you will notice that at the ceremony." SCR calendar updated. 10th December: Lee Child of promoter LA Performance Services has been in touch with details of two additions to Shakespeare County Raceway's 2006 calendar. "On Sunday 16th April (Easter Sunday - Ed) we have added Muscle Car Mania, which is a Test and Tune featuring the American Car World Street Racer Series, Dash for Cash, and Show and Shine" says Lee, who jointly sponsors Eurodragster.com's Links pages through LA Racing Parts. "On Monday 17th April there is a Test and Tune featuring a King of Power Yank v Jap Shootout, and the Jap Racer Series." SCR's updated 2006 calendar is now as follows. UK National Championship events are in red and the Saturday Sunset bracket races are in blue: ©Eurodragster.com Sunday 8th January: Swap Meet Sunday 12th February: Swap Meet Sunday 12th March: Swap Meet Saturday 18th March: Test and Tune featuring Saturday Sunset bracket race (Cars and Bikes) and Dash for Cash Sunday 19th March: Test and Tune Saturday-Sunday 1st-2nd April: Power Nationals (UK National and Ultimate Power Championships plus eighth-mile RWYB on cross-runway) Sunday 9th April: Swap Meet Sunday 16th April: Muscle Car Mania (Test and Tune) featuring American Car World Street Racer Series, Dash for Cash, and Show and Shine Monday 17th April: Test and Tune featuring King of Power Yank v Jap Shootout and Jap Racer Series Saturday-Sunday 29th-30th April: Shakespeare Nationals (UK National and Ultimate Power Championships) Monday 1st May: Vauxhall Speed and Show Day (Test and Tune) Saturday-Sunday 13th-14th May: American Car World Nationals (Test and Tune) Sunday 21st May: Swap Meet Sunday-Monday 28th-29th May: Rotorstock (Jap-only Test and Tune) Saturday 10th June: Test and Tune featuring Saturday Sunset bracket race (Cars and Bikes) and Dash for Cash Sunday 11th June: Test and Tune Sunday 18th June: Swap Meet Saturday-Sunday 1st-2nd July: NSRA Nostalgia Nationals Saturday-Sunday 15th-16th July: Mini Showdown Friday-Sunday 10th-12th August: Bulldog Bash Saturday-Monday 26th-28th August: Custom Car Magazine Allstar Nationals (UK National and Ultimate Power Championships) Saturday-Sunday 16th-17th September: NSRA Hot Rod Drags Saturday 30th September: Test and Tune featuring Ford Day Sunday 1st October: Test and Tune Saturday 14th October: Test and Tune featuring Saturday Sunset bracket race (Cars and Bikes) and Dash for Cash Sunday 15th October: Test and Tune featuring German Car Day Saturday 28th October: Halloween Showdown Test and Tune featuring Saturday Sunset bracket race (Cars and Bikes) and Dash for Cash Sunday 29th October: Test and Tune featuring Shakespeare Street Car Challenge and Jap Racer Day Racers please note that although 29th April-1st May is a three-day Bank Holiday weekend, the Shakespeare Nationals UK Championship event takes place on the Saturday and Sunday only, with a Test and Tune on the Monday. Web site updates. 10th December: German web design supremo Dirk Behlau has been in touch to let us know that his latest creation, the re-launched web site of Germany's Mopar Rebellion team, is now on-line at www.mopar-rebellion.de. The web site features pictures and videos of the Super Gas Dodge Dart together with team and car details, race dates and more. ©Eurodragster.com Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Sharkman has updated his web site with Windows wallpaper files of Thurday's shot of Johnny Hall's fire-up at the Ace Café and yesterday's picture of ICE Automotive's Havoc altered. You can find the Wallpaper files at www.topendtales.com. Bob Roberts of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars tells us that he has been looking at his site access statistics and has noticed something interesting. "As you know we have several short videos on the ARRC web site", says Bob. "Checking the stats I notice that the most popular videos are those of Danny Cockerill's '57 Chevy Pro Mod on its first outing in March. This has been true throughout the year since March, except in September when the ARRC Studebaker's runs at the FIA European Finals were Top of the Pops." Eurodragster.com's last news update before Christmas will be on Christmas Eve, Saturday 24th December. We will then take a few days off and the next news update will be that of Tuesday 27th December. As is traditional we will leave our readers something to read over the break including Drag Racing Unplugged VII, our interview with Ashley Force, and maybe one or two surprises. Feature: ICE Automotive's Havoc. 9th December: One of the highlights of November's Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway was the eagerly-awaited début of the classically-styled Havoc blown-alcohol altered, the first race car to leave the new chassis shop of Eurodragster.com main sponsor ICE Automotive. Unfortunately rain prevented Nick Davies from making his first pass in the beautiful Bantam-bodied altered so Havoc had to go back to ICE Automotive's Silverstone workshop for the off-season. ©Eurodragster.com We couldn't let the whole winter pass without mentioning the stunning altered again and so we are very pleased to present Havoc as the subject of Eurodragster.com's latest feature. We asked Nick Davies about the planning and construction of Havoc, ICE Automotive's plans to run the car in 2006, the fate of the company's project to build a replica of Tee Rat, and much more. You can view our feature on Havoc by clicking here, or by clicking on the Features link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Racers: If you would like your car or bike to be the subject of a Eurodragster.com feature over the off-season then please drop Tog a line at tog@eurodragster.com. Freeman does the maths. 9th December: UK Super Pro ET racer Sam Freeman has been flying the flag for drag racing, giving a webcast to students about his eight-second Double Density altered for the London Gifted & Talented organisation. "London Gifted & Talented contacted me, as well as a number of other teams, for real data for an advanced maths class", says Sam. "Using real world data and experiences makes learning a lot more fun. I replied with what data I had and also a description of how the car works, some brief history of drag racing, how the class structures work, and also some of my own history. From this I was asked if I would be willing to do a live webcast to the students about my car and about drag racing. "Last Friday I went to their offices in Covent Garden and did the webcast with the maths tutor. It all went very well, although a server problem caused everyone to lose their conections half way through but they all logged back on again, so I assume they were interested! I'm expecting some feedback on the whole thing soon, LGT have hinted that they would like me to help further. ©Eurodragster.com "You can see the presentation and video clips at www.londongt.org/masterclasses/maths days 3, 4 and 5." Sam tells us that right now he is keeping his options open and will concentrate on his plans in the New Year. "We are quite proud of what we managed to do in 2005", he says. "The obligatory thanks go to Lindsey, Chris and Ben without whose help it would not have been possible. Thanks also to the track staff, Eurodragster.com (Thanks! - Ed), the Clubs, and the other racers for making it fun! The car is up for sale at a very reasonable price and I would haggle a bit but don't worry, I'll be out in an altered again next year." If you are interested in buying Sam's mid eight-second, 150+ mph altered then you can find out more on his web site at www.doubledensity.co.uk. Swift snippets. 9th December: The first FIA Pro Modified race number has been assigned, to The Netherlands' Marc Meihuizen. Pro Mod is to become an FIA European Championship class in 2006 and Marc will be carrying the number 3700 on his wild blown-alcohol '37 Chevy Business Coupe. "Since there are a lot of racers in FIA classes Marc's number 37 was not available, so we asked the FIA for a better solution", says Dick Koster. "The team hopes to have the number back in the top ten after next year, but first things first. The winter has brought all sorts of new things to help the crew to climb up the tree in Pro Modified." Denis Kieselhorst tells us that the latest issue of his German-language Dragracer.de magazine is now available. "Issue number twenty includes reports on the European Finals at Santa Pod, German RaceWars, Toyo Tires Street Eliminator Germany, NHRA Nationals, King of the Hill Bitburg, Ian Hook, and interviews with Timo Habermann and Sammy Tosuner", says Dennis. A special Christmas subscription offer is currently is available, with six issues on sale for for €3.5. For more details or to order your copy check out www.dragracer.de or E-Mail redaktion@dragracer.de. ©Eurodragster.com UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Gary Page has asked for the help of Eurodragster.com readers in tracking down the Dave Page trophy, a UK perpetual award. If you know the whereabouts of the Dave Page trophy then please drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. Carbon by Design Top Fuel Dragster team owner Knut Söderquist has been in touch with his reaction to comments about the Bahrain Invitational which recently appeared on a UK forum causing it to be suspended. "I have realised with all the bullshit going on there that it's not men talking, it's like old women gossiping at a coffee morning", says Knut. "I don't like it that they kick people when they're down. Real men use their own names if they have something they want to say - I always put my name when I say stuff." Fireside reading. 9th December: Shakespeare County Raceway Press Officer Jerry Cookson tells us that the latest (January) issue of the UK's American Car World contains plenty of winter reading for race fans. "The January issue carries photo reports from the NSRA Hot Rod Drags and the final shootout of the ACW Saturday Street Racer series, both staged at Shakespeare County Raceway", says Jerry. "Representing the usual array of feature cars is Frank Mason's nine-second '58 Corvette Super Gasser photographed at SCR by the UK's most-travelled scribe (on a bicycle) Mark Gredzinski, and a look at one of the most beautifully restored 'winged' Dodge Chargers. Owned by Paul Harborne, this all-black example made it through to the top five in the Mopar Muscle Association's Burnout Competition at the Mopar EuroNationals at Santa Pod this year. There is the final instalment of Top Fuel Diaries following the season-long trials and tribulations of John and Lesley Wright's nitro dragster, and much more. The January 2006 edition is available now at £3.50 from all good high street newsagents. ©Eurodragster.com "Following on from Tog and Roger Gorringe's interview with thirteen-time NHRA Funny Car Champion John Force on Eurodragster.com, this week's issues of Motorsport News and Autosport carry extra stories and photos including a Q & A session with the great man himself, and an editorial written by Autosport Deputy Editor Jim Holder who tries to understand what the Force phenomenon is all about. Both Motorsport News and Autosport are available now from all good high street newsagents." Light 'em up and clear 'em out! 8th December: Johnny Hall and Bill Felstead's Nostalgia Top Fueller wowed the crowd at the Executioners' Hot Rod Night at London's Ace Café last night (Wednesday). The B+J Nostalgia car was fired up a number of times (right, click on picture for large version) and was found to be a useful tool for crowd control. Alec Coe brought along his blown-alcohol Shy Talker slingshot, also put together by B+J, and also fired up a number of times to the spectators' delight. ©Eurodragster.com "By 9:00 pm the car park was full with a mixture of rods, muscle cars, customs and a few pickup trucks as well", says Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Sharkman. "Alec and Johnny both fired up several times even though the weather was really rotten. It seemed to be musical chairs in Alec's car with his youngest son Dan getting the driver's seat for one warm-up and Sarah Howells getting a go for another. "Highlight of the night was Bill and Johnny's method of clearing thirty people out from under their awning: simply fire the digger up, put it on Fuel, and within thirty seconds the previously-crowded awning was empty! Johnny was running the car for a couple of minutes with a few throttle blips and as he shut it down he was greeted with a round of applause and a lot of watering eyes!" Christmas catalogue. 8th December: We had a number of responses to our plea for Christmas gift ideas, so if you are looking for that special something for the racer or race fan in your life, or if you fancy treating yourself, then here are some options for you. Power Point Communications are offering a huge range of UK drag racing DVDs to suit every taste, from this year's Ultimate Power Championship to season reviews of the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association, Street Eliminator and Super Modified, and more. Prices and details can be found at www.quartermilehigh.com or check out our DVD review of 3rd December. US and UK Drag racing DVDs including Decade of Thrills 1 and 2 and Top Fuel Sense-ations are available from Duke Marketing at www.dukevideo.com. Jerry Cookson tells us that Custom Car, published by The Works, is the perfect book for a rod, custom or race fan. "Edited and written by Craig Cheetham, this 192-page publication is packed with over four hundred colour photographs and illustrations", says Jerry. "Each vehicle is examined from all angles in close-up detail. Detailed specifications are provided for each machine including performance statistics, engine type, transmission, special features, running gear and dimensions. But here's the real reason for getting your hands on this book: pages devoted to a 1963 Ford Falcon Super Gasser, forties Willys Coupe, a wild looking Chevy Independence street coupe, a '57 shoebox Bel Air, and a 1951 Ford Anglia featuring a detailed look at the side, top and end elevations of Paul Wright's original Outlaw Anglia, the 4Tec Flyer complete with its APIRA and Speedflow decals, these features alone make for a great read. There is also a reference to nostalgia racing and the early days of hot rodding. Available now, Custom Car is priced at £6.99. To find your nearest store click the Store Finder button at www.theworks.gb.com. Ian Turburville is offering lots of bargains at www.turboville.com just in time for Christmas. "I am clearing all my die cast dragsters, Funny Cars and drag bikes from 1/64 scale to massive 1/9 scale at knock down prices", says Turbo. "I also have some other drag collectables, prints and posters etc. ACU and Snell helmets available from Simpson and Craft at discounted prices. A very large collection of Simpson jackets, T shirts, sweat shirts, caps, shoes, helmet bags, etc. Vital provisions for next year like Sure Shot sprayers, ballistic vests, flip-a-dial ET boards, DVDs, Mechanix and Wrenchers gloves. Clearance range of drag T shirts and caps. Get serious pit-cred next year and get yourselves some Zodiac work stools with flaming logo, just like Ton Pels uses! Much more, E-Mail for list!". Turbo adds that he takes Paypal. Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars have a batch of lightweight aluminium trolley jacks (right) which have been delivered just in time for Christmas. "Ideal for those who are struggling to find a novel gift for their wife/partner/girlfriend these jacks come in a choice of colours - silver, black, red and blue - and weigh in at only forty pounds so they are easily handled by anybody", says Bob Roberts. "Equally at home in the pits or the garage they will lift a 4000 lb load from 3.5 to 17.5 inches. The price for this batch is £175 with UK shipping at £15, contact details as ever at www.robinson-race-cars.co.uk. UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter is offering merchandise, which includes some great gift ideas, on his web site at www.andycarter.net/merchandise.htm UK Supertwin Gas racer Les Harris is offering a 2006 calendar featuring some great pictures of his own race team as well as other race vehicles and some surprises. Les' Drag Racing Calendar is priced at £5 plus £1 postage and packing, and can be ordered direct from him on 01603 412798. For more details check out the news item The twelve months of Beardy of 1st December. Santa Pod Raceway have recently updated the Merchandise page of their web site at www.santapod.co.uk/m_categories.php with plenty of gift ideas for race fans young and old. Ask, and you shall receive. 7th December: UK Wild Bunch racer Phil Sweeney has announced a sponsorship deal with Lund Engines. Phil tells us that the deal, which involves the supply of a new short motor for Phil's Antisocial slingshot, came about because he simply asked, but that winning an event in the sponsor's presence didn't hurt the deal either. "In early September I sent a cheeky E-Mail to Lund Engines explaining who I was and that I'd like them to provide me with a short motor for use in 2006", says Phil. "I received a prompt reply from Steve Lund, proprietor of Lund Engines, stating that he maybe interested in doing something with us. Over the next few weeks I spoke to Steve and gave him an idea of who we were and what we were looking for. Steve was very enthusiastic about the whole deal from the off, and the support which Steve was willing to offer snowballed as we made plans. We invited Steve to join us at the UK National Finals to meet us, see the car and discuss further plans. Things couldn't have gone better, we had a great race meeting progressing to the final and winning! To win two MSA meetings on the bounce was enough, but to have a prospective sponsor present was the icing on the cake!" Lund Engines are a Rover V8 specialist whose main dealings have been with the Off Road and Desert Racing scene. However Phil tells us that they have been branching out into TVRs, Kit Cars and other special applications. "Whilst they can offer a variety of engine services, their depth of knowledge and development in the large capacity Rovers and EFi area is very impressive indeed", says Phil. "Have a look at their web site at www.lundengines.com: not only will you see examples of their work and services, but there's also a technical resource section written by Steve which is a real sharing of knowledge, something often overlooked or potentially charged for by other specialists." ©Eurodragster.com Faithful to his word, Steve Lund has supplied Phil with a 3.5-litre Rover V8. "Not only were we supplied with engine complete manifold to pan, but it was delivered personally by Steve needing only my carb set-up and twelve volt supply!", says Phil. "The spec is mild to start with, but features one of Steve's own custom-grind cams, fully ported and flowed heads, port matched manifold and fully reconditioned stock bottom end. We're aiming to get down into the low elevens but to retain the consistency of the old Essex V6 which served us well in 2005. "I'd like thank Steve Lund for his support this far. We'll certainly be going for it with the Wild Bunch next year. Thanks to John Munday who has kindly fitted the car into a busy schedule for its off season updates and who regularly puts up with my phone calls, E-Mails and changes! I'd also like to urge other readers and racers to support companies who choose to be involved in drag racing by giving them your custom and of course thanks to Eurodragster.com for the excellent service they do for European Drag Racing (Thanks! - Ed)." RFM stable grows. 7th December: Rune Fjeld Motorsport are well into their preparations for 2006, including the addition of a third Top Fuel Dragster says Norwegian Top Fuel Dragster racer Thomas Nataas. "Rune has got a new car - the twin car of mine - but it's not here yet", says Thomas. "We need a lot of parts for it. Rune is on his way to see Bernstein right now. We've had a little setback because Doug Herbert's Crew Chief Wayne Dupuy had all the parts we need for the third car, and Rune was supposed to go to him tomorrrow, but as you know Wayne was seriously hurt in an accident last week only hours after Rune spoke to him. So I don't know if Rune will be able to get everything from that team right now. We have everything we need for the other cars." The new car will be driven by Norway's Siw 'Sunshine' Nystad who joins Thomas and Andy Carter on the RFM roster. There is also the possibility of a Fuel Funny Car, to be driven by Thomas, although that is not yet definite. "We have started work on a new trailer, which will be ready for the summer", adds Thomas. "We will also be going back to Bahrain in January." Swift snippets. 7th December: If you fancy an off-season blast of nitro then don't forget that Johnny Hall and Bill Felstead are firing up the B+J Nostalgia Fuel slingshot at London's Ace Café tonight (Wednesday). "Warm-up on gasoline at 8.30...ten gallons of nitro at 9.30", says Johnny Mental. ©Eurodragster.com Web site updates. 7th December: 2005 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Lex Joon, who is headed to Monaco this weekend for the FIA Banquet, has updated his web site with a number of excellent video clips from the 2005 season. Check it out at www.lexjoonracing.nl. ©Eurodragster.com Get on the NHRA Trail... 6th December: If you were tuned in to Swift snippets on 24th November you will recall that we understood that a major UK travel company was developing a USA drag racing holiday for 2006. We have now received confirmation and more details. The company is Trailfinders, who have been the UK's leader in tailor-made travel for three decades. Trailfinders were recently voted Best Specialist Independent Travel Company for the fifth consecutive year in the Telegraph Travel Awards and Best Travel Agent for the third year running by Guardian/Observer readers. Trailfinders is working with specialist organiser Blueprints For Travel to present Drag Racing USA - The Trip To America in October/November 2006. The Trip will be a full-scale, three-week holiday embracing NHRA's season-ending races at Las Vegas and Pomona and the mighty SEMA Show, with other atttractions included. ©Eurodragster.com In addition to a first-class drag racing programme, the Trip's guests will have access to the full range of travel services, activities, excursions and tours offered by Trailfinders in one of the world's great sightseeing regions. The Trip To America will be launched officially at Christmas and will be open to drag racing enthusiasts throughout Europe. Eurodragster.com readers who would like early notification are invited to E-Mail their contact details, without obligation, to trip2america@aol.com. Swift snippets. 6th December: Sarah of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch to let us know that tickets are now available for Santa Pod's 2006 events. "Just call the office on 01234 782828", says Sarah. From outside the UK the number is +44 1234 782828. We would like to wish a very Happy Birthday to engine builder, performance parts supplier, occasional race car driver and Eurodragster.com Swap meet sponsor Jeff Bull. Hope you have a good day, Jeff. ©Eurodragster.com 2005 UK National 9.50 Bike Champion Fred Furlong and his wife Sandra have asked us to add their best wishes to our good buddy David Anniwell whose bitrthday it was over the weekend. "We would like to this opportunity to thank David for his help in supplying the 9.50 Bikers with an up to date list of qualifiers after each round", says Fred. "The riders in the pits wait eagerly for Sandra to return with the printout supplied by David." We will be opening Eurodragster.com's traditional Christmas Card page next Monday (12th December). If you would like to send a Christmas message to your fellow Eurodragster.com readers or indeed to the Eurodragster.com staff then the mailbox is now open at christmas@eurodragster.com. Also on the subject of Eurodragster.com, yesterday's interview with John Force has met with a huge response and we have already received a large number of appreciative E-Mails. On behalf of both Roger Gorringe and ourselves, thanks to everyone who has taken the trouble to write. Eurodragster.com interview John Force. 5th December: Legendary US Funny Car racer John Force was last night presented with the John Bolster Award at the 2005 Autosport Awards at London's Grosvenor House Hotel. The NHRA organised a small celebratory brunch yesterday lunchtime, presented by NHRA President Tom Compton, which was attended by John, daughter and Top Alcohol Dragster racer Ashley, and Fuel FC racer Eric Medlen, and kindly invited Eurodragster.com to attend. Eurodragster.com teamed up with our good buddy photo-journalist Roger Gorringe to interview John Force (right, picture courtesy and ©Roger Gorringe) at some length about his career, Ashley Force's career, John's future plans which include visiting Europe, Australia, Japan and South Africa and in the shorter term the introduction of a Ford-based Fuel engine, the Force family Reality TV show, John's legendary chef, and many more subjects. ©Eurodragster.com This is the most candid interview we can remember John giving, and we have decided to publish his words verbatim. This makes the interview very long, but as you would expect from John the interview is informative, entertaining, downright hilarious in places, deeply personal in others, and occasionally even controversial. You can read our interview with John Force by clicking here, or by clicking on the Interviews link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. We also briefly interviewed Ashley Force and we will publish Ashley's interview soon. We would like to thank Jerry Archambeault of NHRA, John Force's PR Dave Densmore, and Jo Holland for their help in organising this interview, and of course Roger Gorringe for the picture at right and on the interview page as well as his assistance during the interview. SPRC Perpetual Awards week 3. 5th December: Once again Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give readers the chance of input to the SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 4th February 2006. For each of the 2005 season awards, the SPRC Committee has decided upon a shortlist for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. There are seven awards in all: voting continues this week with the award for Most Professional Appearing Team and will continue over the next four weeks as each category is announced. Voting for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy will also be open for the whole of this period (see below). The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC Committee decides upon the winners. Please note that attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates or forum members to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. This week's vote, the third, is for Most Professional-Appearing Team. The Most Professional-Appearing Team trophy rewards not just the presentation of a race vehicle but the team's overall approach to racing. As well as a well-turned-out car or bike, the Committee have considered such aspects as the appearance and attitude of team personnel, the organisation and appearance of their pit area and support equipment, and their readiness when their class is called. The SPRC Committee's shortlist for Most Professional-Appearing Team, in alphabetical order, is as follows: ©Eurodragster.com Tim Blakemore and team, Funny Bike Barry and Dan Giles and team, Giles and Hartley Racing Super Pro ET and Junior Dragster Chris Johnson and team, Woftam Racing Super Comp Mick Payne and team, Artful Dodger Super Pro ET Paul Watson and team, Dynospeed Developments 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.com page. Voting is per Award, so if you have voted for Best-Looking Car or Bike last week then you can of course vote for Most Professional Appearing Team this week. The Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, for which votes are also now being taken, was first awarded to Santa Pod Raceway's late Chief Marshal, Alex Brachtvogel, in 2001 to mark his outstanding contribution to Santa Pod Raceway and the sport as a whole. After Alex's death the trophy was named in his memory and continues to be awarded for contribution to drag racing. There is no shortlist for the Alex Brachtvogel award. Nominations are invited for racers, race officials, track and safety crews, club officials, media, or anyone else who has contributed to the sport. Last year the trophy was awarded to UK Tech Inspector Geoff Martin. Again see the official web page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to 2005sprcawards@eurodragster.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Trophy as the subject and your nomination in the body of the mail. Next week's category will be the James Edgar Memorial Trophy. Shakespeare County 2006 calendar. 4th December: Lee Child of promoter LA Performance Services has been in touch with the 2006 dates for the UK's Shakespeare County Raceway. The 2006 SCR calendar again features three UK National Championship events which together also make up the Ultimate Power Championship, but new for this year are four additional one-day all-in Car and Bike bracket events dubbed the Saturday Sunset bracket races, which contribute towards a Track Championship as well as Dash for Cash, Test and Tune and Swap Meets. UK National Championship events are in red and the Saturday Sunset bracket races are in blue: ©Eurodragster.com Sunday 8th January: Swap Meet Sunday 12th February: Swap Meet Sunday 12th March: Swap Meet Saturday 18th March: Test and Tune featuring Saturday Sunset bracket race (Cars and Bikes) and Dash for Cash Sunday 19th March: Test and Tune Saturday-Sunday 1st-2nd April: Power Nationals (UK National and Ultimate Power Championships plus eighth-mile RWYB on cross-runway) Sunday 9th April: Swap Meet Saturday 15th April: Test and Tune TBC Sunday 16th April: Test and Tune TBC Saturday-Sunday 29th-30th April: Shakespeare Nationals (UK National and Ultimate Power Championships) Monday 1st May: Vauxhall Speed and Show Day (Test and Tune) Saturday-Sunday 13th-14th May: American Car World Nationals (Test and Tune) Sunday 21st May: Swap Meet Sunday-Monday 28th-29th May: Rotorstock (Jap-only Test and Tune) Saturday 10th June: Test and Tune featuring Saturday Sunset bracket race (Cars and Bikes) and Dash for Cash Sunday 11th June: Test and Tune Sunday 18th June: Swap Meet Saturday-Sunday 1st-2nd July: NSRA Nostalgia Nationals Saturday-Sunday 15th-16th July: Mini Showdown Friday-Sunday 10th-12th August: Bulldog Bash Saturday-Monday 26th-28th August: Custom Car Magazine Allstar Nationals (UK National and Ultimate Power Championships) Saturday-Sunday 16th-17th September: NSRA Hot Rod Drags Saturday 30th September: Test and Tune featuring Ford Day Sunday 1st October: Test and Tune Saturday 14th October: Test and Tune featuring Saturday Sunset bracket race (Cars and Bikes) and Dash for Cash Sunday 15th October: Test and Tune featuring German Car Day Saturday 28th October: Halloween Showdown Test and Tune featuring Saturday Sunset bracket race (Cars and Bikes) and Dash for Cash Sunday 29th October: Test and Tune featuring Shakespeare Street Car Challenge and Jap Racer Day Racers please note that although 29th April-1st May is a three-day Bank Holiday weekend, the Shakespeare Nationals UK Championship event takes place on the Saturday and Sunday only, with a Test and Tune on the Monday. The new Saturday Sunset bracket races feature all-in dial-your own brackets, one each for cars and bikes. The track will be open for Test and Tune between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm and then the brackets will run from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm with initial buybacks and then eliminations. Points from these events will be added to Ultimate Power Championship points for the SCR Track Championship. The Dash for Cash is a new concept. Participants pay £20 into the prize fund and then each competitor has one shot to run as close as possible to their dial-in. The racer closest to dial-in takes the prize money, with the pot being split in the event of a tie. The Swap Meets take place between 8:00 am and 2:30 pm on the dates listed above and are intended to raise revenue to finance the development of the track. Entry is £15 for a pitch if selling, or £5 per car for others. Stay tuned for class and other updates of events at Shakespeare County Raceway. NAST look to 2006. 4th December: The UK's National Association of Supertwins held their Annual General Meeting and party at the Navigation pub at Bulkington on 19th November, writes Chair Don Irvine. "We had a good turnout and an enjoyable party session afterwards - some of us had to stay sober, but there were a couple who didn't!", says Don. "The Club officers for 2006 are: Chairman - Don Irvine Vice-chairman - Les Harris (Beardy Bloke) Secretary - Lorna Barter Treasurer - Yvonne Mott "and our Technical Committee is Chris Stebbings, Barrie Gregory, Les Harris, Dave Jones, and George Laycock. "Presentations for the 2005 season were made to the following: ©Eurodragster.com Top Fuel winner: Chris Stebbings, Runner-up; Steve Clutterbuck Top Gas winner: John Floyd, Runner-up: Andy Smith Street Modified winner: Tony Legge, Runner-up: Chris Mott Street winner: Dave Jones, Runner-up: Ian Radanke Most improved (Street), the Bill Calcutt Cup: Rachel Prevett Most improved (overall): Tony Legge Services to Club, the Bernie Hepworth Trophy: Lorna Barter Chairman's Champagne: Lorraine Laycock "We are all looking forward to a bigger and better (faster?) 2006, and are in the process of arranging our race dates - as soon as they are confirmed, we will publish them. We would also like to get out there a bit more, so we are preparing a 'show pack' and would appreciate any invites to put ourselves on show. "Our web site at www.supertwins.co.uk is being updated with all our news, and we would invite anyone with a twin-cylinder bike who would like to come and have a try-out to keep an eye on the site for our dates. "The Supertwins would like to thank the organisers, promoters and the track crews for their hard work in 2005, and we look forward to successful season in 2006." Bates and Bryant's Adrenaline rush. 4th December: Danny Bates, formerly of Hauser Race Cars and crewman for World Street Race winner Steve Pateman, and Shockwave Fuel FC co-owner and Crew Chief Dave Bryant of Transfix UK have announced the formation of Adrenaline Race and Performance. "Our new company offers a complete race car service from a rod end to a race car", say Danny and Dave. "Our parts service is fully up and running and can offer all the latest technologyies and very competitive pricing. Our workshop facilities include a full chassis shop with the latest tube bending equipment and an engine and transmission build shop offer from stock rebuilds through to full race prep and overhaul. The chassis shop is currently undergoing preperation, however we'll be updating along with pictures over the next couple of weeks. ©Eurodragster.com You can contact Adrenaline Race and Performance on 01933 315191, by E-Mail at contact@adrenaline-race.com, or keep an eye on the web site at www.adrenaline-race.com. Power Point DVD review. 3rd December: Power Point Communications have expanded their range of drag racing DVDs and Videos this year and, like any good product range, there is something for everyone. The entertainment on offer focuses on single classes, particular events, or the entire Ultimate Power Drag Racing Championship. The quality of filming and sound is up to the highest standards, with great care taken over both editing and the accuracy of captions. Other common elements are the informative commentary from Jerry Cookson and Paul Venners and in-depth interviews by David Coleman, Paul Venners and John Price. In many ways, Nitro Warriors is the most impressive of the single-class programmes. This documents the first year of the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association and shows the trials and tribulations of running a blown nitro or methanol altered as well as the successes. The hi-fi sound enables you to have a veritable cacklefest in your living room, and Mickey Moore and Bob Glassup amongst others tell the story behind their season. There is extensive footage from all rounds including The Mob's first runs over 200 mph, Clayton Round's 7.17 in the Rebel T and Dave Grabham's massive wheelie at the Summernationals. Camera angles are well-placed to capture these machines' wild rides. As well as this there is some awesome nostalgia footage, from the UK as early as 1971, courtesy of Nick 'Time Travel' Pettitt and from the US courtesy of John Nance of F/X Images, including nostalgia Funny Cars, Super Stock, A/FX cars and an outrageous AA/FA Anglia. As if this wasn't enough, there is a segment with Johnny Hall and the B+J Nostalgia front-motored slingshot Fuel dragster, and the Gasser Circus. All in all, a heady mixture and a tribute to the hard work of the teams and of Lawrie Gatehouse for organising the Association. Hardcore Street 2005 features the Real Steel Street Eliminator. At one hour forty five minutes this is in-depth race coverage of a type you will not see on broadcast TV. Qualifying and racing are both shown in full, including some excellent split-screen on-board action, and footage from the Cruise is also included. Essentially preaching to the converted, the opportunity to engage in greater depth in interviews and technical discussion is taken with enthusiasm. So there are segments away from the track with Andy Frost at Peter Knight's dyno facility and a casual-but-adrenaline-producing ride with Splinter on board the Wild Cat Cougar on public roads. Most of the racers are interviewed at the track and you feel the ups and downs of emotion as they win, in particular Champion Colin Lazenby, or succumb to mechanical woes. Super Mod Wars has a similar mixture of on-track footage of both qualifying and eliminations from the mid-seven second doorslammers, now in their fourth year. Like the other classes featured Super Mod is on the up, and has welcome sponsorship from Obsession Motorsports and Andy Robinson Race Cars. There is split screen in-car footage with Tim Garlick and Andy Kirk and a section with Graham Ellis describing his run in full as we see it in-car. A special tech session is included with Kev Perkins describing the Ellis Racing Olds Cutlass in detail and talking about both some of their speed secrets and the restrictions to make the class competitive and avoid Super Mod becoming a "pound notes" class. As a bonus, footage from the 2002 National Finals is shown. On these class-specific programmes, I wonder if the opportunity to approach even more from a documentary perspective (thinking of the Discovery Channel approach) may enhance the feeling one has of experiencing the real story behind the scenes, perhaps concentrating on one team in particular at each event? The Mopar Euronationals was the lifestyle event represented in the copies reviewed (the American Car World Nationals and Rotorstock II are also available). This video is a must for fans of classic US muscle cars and a souvenir of a memorable weekend for those who attended. The event, presented enthusiastically by Martin Bennett, is quite infectious, with segments on all aspects of the weekend. The Cruise involved sixty cars driving to The Priory at Wellingborough where the landlord chose the best appearing car, and then quietly (?) leaving to return to Santa Pod. Hundreds of cars arrived on Saturday morning and the video records the best of the Run What Ya Brung with many interviews from a large variety of participants from Mick Payne's awesome Coronet and Ian Bishop's Avenger to some just driving to the strip to have a day's fun. The NSRA attended in force with over a hundred cars. Later there was some grudge racing between Surrey Muscle and Taz Racing. More racing is shown from Sunday, featuring the Nostalgia Shootout, the Show'n'Shine and the burnout competition. ©Eurodragster.com 2005 Ultimate Power includes full class-by-class coverage of all the eliminations from all three rounds of this year's Ultimate Power Drag Racing Championship at SCR, with qualifying from the Power Nationals too. As with 2004, the coverage has been split between two DVDs, including the entire Pro and Sportsman classes. These two discs are for those wishing to see hard and close racing in each of the many classes leading up to the championship. A section showing the car show and Run What Ya Brung from the Allstar Nationals is included on each video. Classes included on 2005 Ultimate Power Pro are Super Comp, Super Gas, Competition Bike, Super Mod, Street Eliminator, Super Street Bike, Super Pro, Funny Bike, Pro Stock bike, Outlaw Anglias and demos from Top Fuel Dragsters, the Firestorm Jet FC, and Pro Mods. As last year there is a special two-disc offer for £21.95 plus P+P which includes a duplicate 2005 Ultimate Power Pro no-commentary disc, made for you to wind up the volume to the max and annoy your neighbours! Ultimate Power Sportsman includes the Sportsman classes including Super Street Car, 9.50 Bike, Pro ET, Wild Bunch, VW Sportsman, VW Pro, VW Alternate Engine, Supertwins, Sportsman ET and Junior Dragster and Bike. Race footage is complete and interviews with Brian Huxley, Sarah Howells and John Floyd enhance the content. With such excellence in a product which has little UK competition, any criticism should be seen as minor. Perhaps more use of the camera at the finish line would help highlight the closeness of the racing and the speed at the top end, and more interviews on the Ultimate Power Sportsman programme would have been welcome. But racers and fans alike will be delighted by the overall quality, and any of them will make an excellent Christmas present. Single DVDs or VHS videos are £15.95 plus P+P. Both 2005 Ultimate Power items can be ordered for a special price of £24.95 plus P+P. P+P is £1.50 per order for UK delivery. Internet ordering is available at www.quartermilehigh.com. Santa Pod seek 40th pictures. 3rd December: Santa Pod Raceway celebrates its fortieth birthday in 2006 and SPR's Marketing and Sponsorship Executive Jo Harris is seeking the help of Eurodragster.com readers with the celebrations. "We would like to hear from anyone with any old images of race cars or bikes, or of Santa Pod over the years", says Jo. "We're looking for images from 1966 to the present day. Obviously we have plenty of pictures from the last few years, but we would love to see any which people have from years gone by." If you can help then there are a couple of ways to submit your historic pictures: E-Mail them to 40@santapod.com with as many details as you can supply on the vehicle, driver or rider, exact date of the photograph etc and of course the photographer's name. ©Eurodragster.com Send prints or CDs to Jo Harris at Santa Pod Raceway Unit 5 Airfield Road Podington Northamptonshire NN29 7XA Again please supply as many details as you can and don't forget the photographer's name. Swift snippets. 3rd December: We would like to wish a very Happy 21st Birthday for yesterday (Friday) to Luke Robinson, son of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsors Andy and Kate Robinson, Crew Chief for 2005 Street Eliminator Champion Colin Lazenby and crew member for Andy Robinson's Pro Mod. "Happy Birthday from Andy and I and the whole Studebaker team", says Kate Robinson. "I'm having a bit of a guilt complex as Andy and I are away in the USA and have left Luke in the workshop!". ©Eurodragster.com Happy Birthday also, for today, to David Anniwell. David is a member of Santa Pod Raceway's timing and Race Control teams and is a great help to Eurodragster.com's live coverage, running the length of Race Control to bring us results as they are printed. "I hope that David carries on with the good work he is doing both on and off the track", says dad Nigel. We're sure that everyone will join us in wishing both Luke and David the very Happiest of Birthdays. Web site updates. 3rd December: Swedish Pro Mod racer Håkan Nilsson's official web site at www.nilssonmotorsports.com has been updated with a review of the 2005 season and a few words about 2006. The Nilsson Motorsports web site is well worth a visit especially if you like on-board video footage as there are some fine clips available for download. The review is also available on the European Pro Mod Association web site at www.promod.nu. ©Eurodragster.com Canto Top Fueller for sale. 2nd December: The first shock of the new off-season occurred yesterday when Peter Knight put the entire Canto Consultancy Top Fuel Dragster operation up for sale on Eurodragster.com's Swap Meet. Peter told Eurodragster.com that the main issue was finding the time - for example, both Peter and driver Jon Webster have their own very successful and thus very busy businesses. "I have talked it over with the guys and we have all had a wonderful time running with the big guns at the top of the sport", Peter told Eurodragster.com. "But it is time to move on. I have struggled to find the time to dedicate to racing the car and I know that Jon has too. We both have other projects we need to see through: Jon has his MG X, Alex has his Mustang and both these guys will want to run in Street Eliminator. I have a workshop full of Sunnen equipment I've had for two years and haven't even wired up yet, and I have other business opportunies I wish to explore." ©Eurodragster.com Peter told us that any purchaser is going to get a very good deal on the four-second, 290+ mph dragster. "Someone is going to benefit from a well-sorted car which has been maintained regardless of cost by the best people in the business", said Peter. "It is a surefire winner in the right hands, with an arsenal of new and unused spares - basically a full season's worth. We are putting the car together fresh for 2006 and bringing it all up to date so it's ready to go. And if the car doesn't sell...then you never know!" Peter is very grateful to everyone with whom he has worked on the Top Fueller. "I would like to thank Jon, Laurie, Dean, Johnny Mac, Alex, Steve, Anne, and Tim who have all worked hard to make it happen", he said. "Also many thanks to Alan Jackson and Knut Söderquist, and to Don Reed, Jimmy Walsh and Roger Way Racing in the USA, who all paid a pivotal role." If you are interested in purchasing the Top Fuel Dragster then you can find full details in the Cars For Sale section of our Jeff Bull Race Engines and Performance Parts-sponsored Swap Meet, which you can view by clicking here, or by clicking on the Swap Meet link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Bahrain Festival Contest result. 1st December: Congratulations to Neil Martin of Worthing, UK, who is the winner of Eurodragster.com's Bahrain Festival Contest. ©Eurodragster.com Neil was one of only three readers who correctly identified all eight visible Team Europe racers in the photograph of the autograph session at the Bahrain International Circuit (right). The racers are, from left to right, Michael Malmgren, Per Bengtsson, Ronny Aasen, Sverre Dahl, Ian King, Susanne Callin, Richard Sundblom and Thomas Nataas. Several readers listed Ian Turburville (still more named him as Freddy Fagerström - Ed) but although Turbo is an accomplished Supertwin Fuel rider himself, he was crewing for Ronny Aasen in Bahrain and so was not a Team Europe racer. Neil wins a Bahrain Drag Racing Festival poster autographed by the Team Europe racers, track announcer John Price, and the Bahraini and other local racers who attended the autograph session. Thanks to everyone who entered the Contest. The twelve months of Beardy. 1st December: Our good buddy, UK Supertwin Gas racer Les Harris has released his eagerly-awaited 2006 Drag Racing Calendar. Building on the success of the 2005 item Beardy Bloke has again brought in photographer and designer Caz M and produced a calendar to be proud of which he tells us is already outselling last year's piece. The calendar naturally features pictures of Les' nine-second Tilly III in various poses but also includes other racers such as Mark Pointer, Nick Curtis, Dave Bailey and Chris Hartnell, as well as surprises such as a portrait of Les' daughter Abby sitting on an airbrushed cartoon of Les' bike and a team portrait which - deliberately, Les tells us - looks like a promotional shot for a 1970s pop group. Each page is sponsored, with sponsors as diverse as a hairdresser and an accountant. ©Eurodragster.com "The photographs are mainly by Caz M with a few shots by Lyn and myself", says Beardy Bloke. "I left the whole design to Caz whilst I found the sponsors. Caz has come on in leaps and bounds - it was only two years ago that she decided to get into cameras and computers and this is the second year she has produced a great calendar. She really must take a big pat on the back." Quickprint of Norwich (01603 768768) have printed 250 copies of the calendar and Les says that he is very pleased indeed with the job. "Their set-up and attitude are just the tops", he says. "They gave us a great price and and the service was second to none." Les' Drag Racing Calendar is priced at £5 plus £1 postage and packing, and can be ordered direct from him on 01603 412798. Swift snippets. 1st December: A big Happy Birthday to our good friend Shelby Webster who is seventeen today (Thursday). Although Shelby is now legally able to drive on the street in the UK, mum Jeanette tells us that she won't get the keys to dad and Eurodragster.com sponsor Jon's Street Eliminator MG just yet - but only because her provisional licence hasn't arrived. We hope that you have the very happiest of birthdays, Shelby. ©Eurodragster.com Ian Turburville has been in touch to let us know that the late Bernie Hepworth's Supertwin is for sale on E-Bay. The bike has run in the 7.0s and has had a lot of work done and parts added since then. If you are interested in acquiring a Supertwin then you could do a lot worse than checking out this bike by clicking here. Further to Tuesday's Web Site Update, we have now recovered as much as possible of our Event Coverage archive. We managed to recover all but one day's reports all the way back to the start of the 2000 season, and these reports are all available by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Web site updates. 1st December: 2005 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Lex Joon's web site at www.lexjoonracing.nl has been updated with car details and driver biography pages plus a note about Lex's forthcoming trip to Monaco. ©Eurodragster.com Earlier news

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