Home Page
Add a web site
Jeff Bull Swap Meet
Send a News Item
Site Search by Hauser Racing
2018 FIA/FIM Championships schedule
News, Coverage, Features
Latest News
John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage
OCS Paint Points Standings
Features, Interviews, Tributes
Racer Blogs Derek 10/04
WRE/Nimbus Webcam
LA Racing Parts Links
Racers' web sites
Associations, Clubs
Race calendars
Results, Reports, Info
Pictures, Video
Performance Parts, Merchandise
Sponsors
Tracks, Shows
Information
Timing Data
European and UK Bests
Champions' Champions
Editor's Diary archive
Eurodragster.com FAQ
23rd June: We were very sorry to hear of the death of Norwegian Top Fuel Bike racer Jon Leret.
If you needed an example of a fearless racer who worked hard and played hard then Jon would be at the top of that list. He was very popular within the racing community and could be relied upon for spectacular performances both on the track and in the pits. Never to be forgotten was Jon bailing from the bike on Mantorp Park's notoriously short shutdown area in 2004, just after passing the stripe at 215 mph; at the time we were memorably told that he would have got up and walked back to the pits had the medics let him.
Our deepest sympathies to Jon's family and friends.
SPR statement: Two Seater Dragster.
23rd June: We have received the following statement from Trakbak Racing and Santa Pod Raceway CEO Keith Bartlett:
During a corporate charity day at Santa Pod last week the Santa Pod Two-Seater Dragster crashed during a solo demonstration session. The car was being driven by Susanne Callin-Bartlett for a demonstration of women in motorsport in support of the Dare to be Different charity. The exact cause of the crash has not yet been fully established but the driver was unhurt, although the car was quite badly damaged.
On behalf of Susanne and Santa Pod Raceway I would like to thank everyone for their E-Mails and concerns for Susanne and the Two-Seater Dragster. Susanne is fit and well and with no injuries. She will be back driving race cars again very soon. Santa Pod is looking forward to being able to continue with the Two-Seater Dragster programme, once the repairs and re-build to the car are completed.
The Hog is ready to roast.
23rd June: Derek Flynn of Eurodragster.com sponsor Gold RV writes with news of a new ride:
Since buying Tilly the Suzuki TL 1000 Drag Bike from Les Harris, we have got to know each other better and Les has been very supportive in helping us run her. We both love Tilly and she is so easy to run and is a great bike. She is still for sale.
We both love Harleys; Les is in mid-build of his own Harley Supertwin and I was going to quit the bikes. However Les then told me about a Harley Super Twin
that was available from Dave Bartz who was selling it due to some health issues with which he is battling very bravely - hope it all goes well Dave (Hear, hear - Ed).
We both wanted the bike but could not justify the expense individually so I suggested that we go halves. We both thought about it for all of one night and decided that
it was a good plan, we would run as a team and alternate as riders at the various events.
We took delivery yesterday and to say that we are both very happy with our new acquisition is an understatement - it's just awesome! It needs a little fettling and recommissioning as it has been in storage for a while now. Dave was brilliant going over things with us, like how to start it, some minor things we should do to it and advised that we should put on a new front tyre. But apart from that The Hog is basically ready to go and is now in the Gold RV Motorcycles stable. It was obvious that Dave loves the bike and that it was hard for him to let go, it must have felt like selling one of his babies.
Hopefully we will be taking The Hog to the Red Line Rumble in August. Needless to say the trailer is no longer for sale, but anyone who is interested in Tilly
(right) should come to see me in the pits at the SPRC Summernationals where I will be running her.
At the Summernationals I will also be assisting Steve Johnson with tuning and running Motor Mouse with its new engine, rear end etc. So far the new combination has given us a few headaches, it seems to have too much power but you can never have too many horses, it’s just a matter of harnessing ‘em correctly. Steve has specified and built a great engine and the blower has been refreshed over the winter. I am sure that we will get a handle on it after a few runs and hopefully we will be ready to make the Mouse really roar in the Slingshot Showdown at Dragstalgia, which has been the goal all along. Fiona and I have really enjoyed helping Steve; as we all know he lost his long-term crew, wife and life partner Pat whom we still love and miss. We have had some tears, cheers and we reminisce over some of the great times and adventures we all shared together.
I would like to thank long-term friends John Clark aka Nobby, Nigel Turner and Ian Turburville for all their assistance with my racing and crewing on the various projects with which I have been involved with over the last couple of years.
SPRC Summernationals Perfect Awards.
23rd June: Next week's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway is the latest event in the 2018 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards Scheme. £100 will be on offer for perfect performance.
The Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Gearhead Garage Super Pro ET
racer Brad Jackson at the FIA/FIM Main Event. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer to record a Reaction Time of
0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award will be available to racers in all classes during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded
for the first Perfect Light of the event. If not won then the Award will be increased to £75 for Dragstalgia; if it is won
then it will be reset to £50 for Dragstalgia. The Perfect ET Award is presented in association with Cath and Tig Napier of
Modurstang Pro ET team Bad Habit Racing.
Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com decals will be available in the Signing On office or from the Eurodragster.com office in Race Control (entry via Spectator Bank side stairs only).
The Eurodragster.com / Vitesse Labelling Products Perfect ET Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by
Modurstang Pro ET racer Bob Molden at the FIA/FIM Main Event. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer to run +0.000 on index
or dial-in. The Perfect ET Award will be available this weekend in Gearhead Garage UK Super Pro ET, Modurstang Pro ET, Hutchinson & Dibley
Sportsman ET, Super Comp, Terry Gibbs Super Gas Shootout, Super Street, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster (eliminations only), VW Pro, VW Sportsman,
the Wild Bunch, Nostalgia Super Stock, 8.50 Bike, 9.50 Bike, ET Bike and Junior Drag Bike, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect
ET of the event. If not won then the Award will be increased to £100 for Bug Jam; if it is won then it will be reset to £50
for Bug Jam.
To be eligible to win the Award, decals (right) must be carried, clearly visible, one on each side of the vehicle. If a Perfect ET is recorded without decals then there will be no argument, we will not pay out and the money will be awarded to the next racer to record a Perfect ET. Decals will be available in Signing On from this Friday.
For more information about the services which Vitesse Labelling Products can provide please see Al Platt in the Modurstang Pro ET pits or visit www.vitesse-labelling.co.uk.
PMR racing school closes.
23rd June: Paul Marston has been in touch to announce with deep regret that the Paul Marston Racing Drag Race School has closed:
Due to circumstances beyond our control the school is sadly no more. Over the past sixteen years a lot of racers have passed through our doors and we feel that we made a difference to drag racing in our own small way. We would like to think that the sport is a safer place due to pupils being shown how to do things properly and being taught the right way, how to handle situations and to take care of their own safety and consequently the safety of others.
The School was started as a way to give something back to this great sport of ours, to provide new racers somewhere to go and to be taught how to do things right. It was always run on a non-profit basis to enable more people to take advantage of a valuable resource.
We would like to thank everyone in the PMR team who voluntarily gave up their time to help run the school over the years. The list is long and distinguished and without their care, attention and professionalism the School could not have existed. To all of them we all owe a great debt of gratitude.
Then there are the graduate pupils of the School, so many of whom have shined so bright. You all are the real reason why the School existed, to enable you to fulfil your dreams and ambitions. There are drivers who got their start with us all the way from Sportsman ET up to Top Fuel and Funny Car, all of whom make us very proud.
Lastly there are the drivers who have driven with us who have won UK National Championships, Club Championships and countless National events driving our cars. Once again we would like to thank them all and wish them every success in the future.
If anyone is interested in purchasing any of the School cars then please contact us directly. Over the next few weeks the cars and spares will appear for sale on the Jeff Bull Race Engines Swap Meet here on Eurodragster.com.
Web site updates.
23rd June: If you were at the FIA/FIM Main Event or if you were tuned in to our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Event Coverage then you will recall that FIA Pro Modified, also Round 2 of the MSA British Drag Racing Championship, put on a great show. You can relive the action, courtesy of our friends Helen Todd and David Coleman of Zeon TV, on Santa Pod Raceway's YouTube channel by clicking at right or at www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSo0o3ghSZE
Our good buddy Steve Moxley has had his FIA/FIM Main Event report and SPRC Summernationals preview posted on the ACU web site at www.acu.org.uk.
Also updating from the FIA/FIM Main Event is Paul Lister whose 300+ pictures can be checked out on his Drag Car Anon web site at www.dragcaranon.co.uk.
SPRC Summernationals racer update.
22nd June: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us details of the arrangements for next week's SPRC Smmernationals at Santa Pod Raceway:
Friday 29th June
08:00 Gates open for the duration of the event
10:00 Signing On office opens
11:00 Car scrutineering commences, no specific order
16:30 Bike scrutineering commences, no specific order
18:45 Signing On office closes
20:00 Bike scrutineering ends
Saturday 30th June
07:00 Signing On office opens
07:00 Scrutineering commences 09:30 Track opens for qualifying
Sunday 1st July
07:30 Signing On office opens
07:30 Scrutineering commences 09:30 Track opens for qualifying and eliminations
The provisional running orders are now available and can be checked out by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please note as ever that running orders are subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials.
No race vehicle motors are to be fired up before 09:00 or after 20:00 on any day of the event including Friday's All Torque Test Day. Before 09:00 vehicles should be pushed or towed to Scrutineering, not driven or ridden. Non-observation of curfew will result in exclusion from the event.
Junior racers please remember the rule about pushing vehicles back to the pits once through the arch beside Scrutineering.
Colour commentators are requested to come to Commentary only when their class is at the head of the lanes, to vacate Commentary as soon as their class has run, and not to bring guests to Commentary with them.
At the request of SPR management the Eurodragster.com office at the Bankside end of Race Control is out of bounds during racing except to race officials, Eurodragster.com staff, Zeon TV crew and racers or crew collecting Eurodragster.com Perfect Award money.
Daring to be Different at Santa Pod.
20th June: Santa Pod Raceway today teamed up with Dare To Be Different
to hold a highly successful Schools event to promote the cause of advancing female talent in motorsport. Simon writes:
Dare To Be Different is a non-profit organisation founded by former racing driver Susie Wolff and the CEO of the Motor Sports Association Rob Jones in 2016. The organisation helps to inspire, connect, showcase and develop women who either currently work in, or want to work in the motorsport arena. It runs six schools events, two community events and attends five shows or races per year. Children attending today were family members of the Mercedes, McLaren, Renault, Force India, Williams and Toro Rosso F1 teams.
Groups of participants were led through five different motorsport-related activities, interspersed with drag racing demonstrations from female drivers. Activities comprised a Drag Racing Experience hosted by Dave Warren with Fuel racer Shelley Pearson, TV presenting with Sky Sports hosted by TV presenter and journalist Louise Goodman, an F1 STEM challenge to construct a ride-on hovercraft, a reaction challenge, pit stop challenge, and workout and resuscitation.
Race teams present comprised the Junior Dragsters of Jacqueline Bartlett, Lara Bartlett, Holley Marshall and Caitlin Wilson, the Junior Drag Bike of Meggie Talbot, the Pro Stock Bike of Bobby Frazier, the Comp Eliminator Chevy S10 truck of Belinda Bull, the Santa Pod Thrill Ride two seater dragster driven by Susanne Callin, the Super Comp dragster of Leah Kellett, and the Pro ET dragster of Rhiannon Bellenie. Following racing demonstrations, the participants were given a pit tour by Grace Roaf to enable them to meet with drivers and talk about the cars, bikes and drag racing.
The prizes for winners in each activity were presented by Isle of Mann TT racer Maria Costello MBE and Louise Goodman.
You can check out a photo gallery of today's activities, which is presented in association with www.lucasoil.co.uk, by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Tierp's happiest team...
20th June: Tierp Internationals FIA Pro Stock winner Michael Malmgren says that he clinched the event title by hitting it hard on the Sunday:
We struggled some with the tune-up on the car during qualifying. On our first run on Friday we ran 6.59 which was good enough for #2 qualifier
but then Bangt Ljungdahl ran quicker. On Saturday we couldn't improve whilst Stefan Ernryd picked up to 6.56, Jimmy Ålund to 6.54 and
Thomas Lindström to a good 6.58 so we ended up #5 qualifier. We were not pleased with that.
For Sunday's eliminations weather changed. It got hotter and the corrected altitude went from 1400 feet to 2600 feet, which is normally 0.5 seconds in performance. We could see this on the cars which had been in front of us in qualifying as they slowed down and ours turned out to be the fastest car in every round of eliminations.
With the right call from my super crew Bjarne Cox, Kent Jonsson , Kent Eriksson, guest mecanic Mikael Sjökvist and Monica Bengtsson we managed to run the same in first round on Sunday, another strong 6.60 against Thomas' 6.63 and we took the win in a good side-by-side race. In the second round we thought we would face Bengt, but he lost in the first round to a holeshot by Magnus Pettersson, a 6.62 against Magnus' 6.67. So we faced Magnus in the second round we and had lane choice. Another strong 6.60 whereas Magnus shook off the line trying too hard, so a final round appearance now became a fact.
We were of course very pleased to be in the final and I could run it my way, no pressure and just go for it, and it worked out with another good ET 6.62 against Stefan's 6.64. Stefan also tried too hard and redlit, but I had it covered anyway with a 0.002 light.
No one can say it was a walk in the park, we raced hard every round and faced stiff competition and it was good side by side racing, except against Magnus who shook off the line. So we are very proud and super happy with our win, as it has been three years since we last won a race. We are now second in points, less than one round away from Stefan, but there are four more rounds to go and a lot can happen. But we feel that we are definitely a contender for the title this year.
All this would not be possible without our support from our USA performance parts manufactors: PAC Valve Springs, Diamond Pistons, Trend Performance, Richmond Gears, Braswell Carburetors, MSD Ignition, Victory Valves, Speed Pro Bearings and Rings, Fel Pro Gaskets, VP Racing Fuel, Champion Spark Plugs, ARP Fasteners, Pro Fabrication and Auto-Verdi Oil Pumps.
...or was it this team?
20th June: Stock/Super Stock racer Carla Pittau says that there was one winning driver and one very happy
Heaven & Hell team at the Tierp Internationals:
It was immense fun to race side by side with Rick again, and watching him go through the rounds to win the event was a fantastic end to a busy and happy weekend.
We rebuilt Rick's engine last year using the block from his Rick Watters engine and the heads from his John Gulius engine, finally ending the problems with leaking heads which plagued us for the previous several years. This produced excellent results with practically no breakages at all in the season, allowed good consistency which surely helped to secure the 2017 EDRS Pro Championship, and made us proud of our engine building skills. The accurate honing of the block by Raymond Karlsson at Stålteknik in Harbo was also a big help.
After achieving consistency, as the '84 Camaro is a bit too heavy for the class (GT/GA) and there is no weight we can take out, we thought that perhaps this season the combination could possibly benefit from moving to a lower class by adding a bit of weight. This we did, adding 66 lbs to race in GT/HA, although with hindsight we shouldn't have added to the rear. Eager to test the combination we entered the Helsinge Dragracing Challenge at Söderhamn Drag Strip, a lovely eighth-mile track with a friendly and helpful crew a couple of hours' drive from our house. Unfortunately our poor judgment with regard to the location of that weight, combined with a fairly strong head wind and a giant wheelie, resulted in the Camaro turning to the right whilst still in the air, unable to steer, and coming down too close to the wall to miss it. Luckily the damage was luckily not too great although the steering and alignment needed to be urgently addressed. This was done in Stockholm by Björn Bondesson, who put aside his busy work schedule to accommodate us and whose team made sure that Rick's car would run straight and true in time for the Tierp Internationals.
We patched up the body damage as best as we could, resigned to race the car showing her battle scars due to lack of time, moved the weight from the boot to behind
the front seats and adjusted the front shocks to ensure a milder launch and lower wheelies, which seemed to do the trick very well. In qualifying at the Tierp Internationals
Rick ran a PB of 9.819, or 0.68 under index, which put him in the ladder at number twenty. Perhaps this is not impressive in itself but is a big improvement over the past
and possibly the best we can get out of this not very competitive combination. However the class change was shown to work in our favour.
In round one Rick got past number four qualifier Lars Johansson in the lovely '66 Belair with a better light, hitting the brakes at the top end. In round two he was paired with Timo Eronen in the eight-second '68 Hemi Dart who had put yours truly on the trailer in the previous round (although I helped by pulling a cherry), and again he got through with only a hundredth advantage on the tree. This was Saturday, half the team still in, we could quietly celebrate. The third round only arrived ,after a long wait, at about three o'clock on Sunday afternoon and was rapidly followed by rounds four and five in the space of barely one hour! No time to get tense or worry about anything, just refuel and get back to the start line where Rick turned on the winning light against number eight qualifier Uffe Edwardson in his one-second-under '70 Challenger, then Glenn Applegren in the lovely '64 Polara, and finally Per Fägeström in the A/SA '68 Camaro.
Rick had had very consistent lights throughout the eliminations, but Per's 0.01 reaction against his still very respectable 0.05 could easily have spoilt the final result, but
fortunately a better dial in, running 9.99 on the brakes on a 9.96, against Per's 10.28 on a 10.20 saved the day and turned on the big winning light! A Heaven & Hell team
hug and many high fives on the start line, the hard-working and now ecstatic Dave and Chris Buckland, joined on crew duties by Yours Truly after round one, danced in
sheer delight.
As for me, I had been waiting all winter for the big day of my début in Stock/Super Stock, the class with which I fell in love during one of our visits to the States in 1994, hurrying back to the stands whenever they ran, preferring it to Top Fuel and Funny Car, interviewing some of the racers for the old Sportsman News newsletter which we used to prepare with my work photocopier, drinking in the stories of engine combinations which could not possibly make that much power, much less propel heavy cars to low ETs and yet did.
At the time my Camaro, which I had owned for about four years, was competing in Street ET and running low thirteens over the quarter mile with a little 350 ci Small Block. That same mild street engine would propel the 3600 lbs street car to a best time of 10.82, albeit with more than a little help from the laughing gas in the big blue bottle in the boot. Fast forward twenty four years and the very same Camaro, now a bit lighter at 3300 lbs, rebuilt by the Williams Brothers in all steel after the long spell with fibreglass doors and front, went 10.60 at Tierp Arena with a 350 ci engine, NHRA Stock legal, built by Brian Tilburg of Tilburg Racing Engines. A few chassis and suspension adjustments helped make the difference, as we started to learn the new combination at the Test and Tune and first race in the class in Söderhamn where fellow competitors offered help and advice to steer us in the right direction including Uffe Edwardson, Björn Bondesson and Thomas Strand, thanks guys. I also earned my Swedish licence there and got a bit more used to the car, the "Clean neutral" transmission, and the two-step launch, although I noticed that not many competitors shift into neutral and click off at the top end, judging by questions from officials in the collection area who asked if I had engine trouble!
The 10.606 means I ran 0.944 under the index at Tierp Arena, which qualified me twelfth of thirty two competitors in a very tough field in which top qualifier Mathias
Färm ran a very impressive 1.17 seconds under his index. I still have to iron out a few small problems and understand more of the Racepak workings to make full
use of the data this excellent data recorder provides, but with the help and support of Dick Koster at Post & Dros
I have made a lot of progress. Incidentally, I highly recommend purchasing a Racepak system from this man (or any other racing equipment, check his web site for anything
from engine components to safety wear, from hoses and hose ends to tools, clutch parts etc). He makes time to always come to our pits if we have any questions or issues,
even if he's fully-committed to helping many of the Pro drivers.
We would like to give heartfelt thanks to all the people who have helped us, in particular all competitors in Stock/Super Stock for the warm welcome which they gave me and their high level of sportsmanship: Björn Bondesson for being a great friend ready to help when we needed it; Thomas Strand and Uffe Edwardson for their advice; Dan Williams for his advice on the set-up even though he was busy with his US adventure; Brian Tilburg for building a great engine, the marshals and track crew; the Eurodragster.com team for keeping us up to date with what was going on, as always (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed); the series and class sponsors Summit Racing Equipment and Ljungdahl Racing for their contingency prizes; and last but by no means least Dave and Chris Buckland, who have been such a great help with all aspects of ensuring that the cars were always ready and well-looked-after and who still put up with us after over ten years of crewing. We missed Colin and Grace Roaf greatly but we know that they were both there in spirit.
Next stop is Alastaro, where we will compete in the second round of the 2018 EDRS Pro Championship which, did I mention, Rick is leading (insert big smile here), and where I will do my best not to screw up on the line!
Pictures courtesy and copyright Christine Buckland and Carla Pittau
One out of two.
20th June: Sweden's multiple FIA European Pro Stock Champion and FIA Pro Modified racer Jimmy Ålund is contesting both classes in 2018; the full Pro Modified Championship in The Old 51 and three events in his Pro Stock Camaro. The Tierp Internationals was Jimmy's first double-header this year which Pär Willén says made for some interesting challenges:
In Pro Modified Jimmy got off to a good start with the Magnus Petersson-owned Old 51 Chevrolet, with more than solid performances during qualifying. This was
not only a European Championship round but the first leg of the Swedish Pro Mod Championship was also contested during qualifying runs here. Five runs, two
new PBs, 5.8457 and 392.16 kmh (243.67 mph), three runs in the mid 5.8s, and three runs over 390 kmh (242.33 mph). Not only did The Old 51 end up as the
#1 qualifier but Jimmy also won this leg of the Swedish Pro Mod Championship playing his part in running the quickest- and fastest-ever Pro Modified side-by-side
in Europe, again.
"A hectic weekend, three races in one, FIA Pro Mod and Pro Stock plus the Swedish Pro Mod Championship", says Jimmy. "It feels great winning the first part of the Swedish Championship. The Old 51 team did their work and we stepped up our qualifying numbers again compared to last year."
Pro Mod eliminations started out in an excellent fashion for Jimmy with wins in E1, the quarter finals and the semis, dipping into the 5.8-second zone in each round, running like a bracket racer with ETs of 5.87, 5.88 and 5.89. That was unfortunately the end of the weekend for the team. The Old 51 lined up against #2 qualifier Andreas Arthursson in the turbo Chevelle, but when it was time to fly the engine would not start.
"Mixed feelings", says Jimmy. "We pulled very solid numbers all weekend and an ending like that is very disappointing. But be sure that my hat is off to the Andreas Arthursson and his crew who really has got a handle on that beautiful Chevelle, I'm sure that we'll see that car going lots of rounds in upcoming races".
Jimmy left Tierp in first place in the Pro Mod points standings for both the FIA and Swedish Pro Mod Championships.
It was the first race of the season for the Summit Racing Pro Stock Camaro. The first day of qualifying did not go as expected with a #4 place but the
second day of qualifying was a lot better and took Jimmy up to #2 spot with an ET of 6.532 at 343.95 kmh (213.72 mph). "There were some first-race-issues
but we got them cleared out", says Jimmy. "Our KB Racing engine is strong as evidenced by the high speeds which we ran all weekend".
Sundays eliminations were in hotter weather which slowed things down a bit. Jimmy won round one with a 6.60 with that round's top speed but was taken out by Stefan Ernryd in the semis. Jimmy again ran top speed of the round but no matter, Stefan crossed the finish line first.
"The Pro Stock part of the weekend could have been better", says Jimmy. "The Summit Racing Camaro was good and strong with the fastest speeds in three of the qualifying sessions. The Tierp track was high-quality as usual but we misread the changed conditions for Sunday's eliminations. Stefan had a better handle on the tune than I did and he won it fair and square."
The next race is the second race of the "Northern Swing", at Alastaro Motopark in Finland, on 29th June-1st July.
Summit Racing Equipment, Viking Industrimålning and Exclusive Cars are sponsoring both the Old 51 Pro Mod and Jimmy's Pro Stock Camaro this year. This is in addition to Sverigedemokraterna, KB Racing, Camaroskroten, P.O:s Harley Davidson, All American AB, Vadstena Klosterhotel, Stigs Axle and Parts, Hydraulakuten and VP Racing Fuels. Jimmy Ålund Racing is very grateful for the continuing support from such great companies.
European Top Gas Round 2 review.
20th June: Herman Jolink writes that the second round of the
European Top Gas Series took place on a no-prep eighth-mile at
Alkersleben in Germany:
There were a lot of cars there for the King of Germany Championship. There were a lot of oildowns but the track crew were very good at clean-up. Timing was by Cary Kooper and the DHRA team from The Netherlands. We were very lucky with the weather. On Friday we had very hot sunshine, cloud and sun on Saturday, and cloudy but nice on Sunday.
On Friday morning we made test runs to get a feel of the track and then on Friday and Saturday we had five qualifying sessions. Qualifying:
- Jorg Lymnant D on 2622 Prostock V-Twin 5.297/222.91 kmh, Horg did not make all five qualifying sessions.
- Olaf Menzi CH on 2622 Prostock V-Twin 5.329/218.18, Olaf had a Hungaruan Crew Chief and mechanic and three Swiss team members. He rode very well transferring his weight on the bike.
- Gerd Caspari D on 2240 V-Twin home made 5.637/201.68, after one run the belly pan was loose under the motor.
- Martin Buehler CH 1600 mechanical Turbo V-Twin (home made by Otto Bauer) 5.678/201.78 a PB for Martin courtesy of the right set-up from the Bentec slider clutch.
- Herman Jolink N L on Ducati 1198 RS (1266) 5.860/201.12, consistent 5.8-second runs but it was not easy to get the power onto the track with the seven-inch tyre. Crew Chief was Kalle Viehrig from near Chemnitz.
- Horst Petersen D on 1330 V-Rod Destroyer 6.267/179.10
- Sven Ole Schleichert D on 1300 V-Rod Destroyer 6.381/177.34
- Andreas Herr D on V-Twin 6.399/176.90
- Dirk Waterschoot B on water-cooled Rotax-Buell with home made frame 6.649/174.76, Dirk was celebrating his 50th birthday on Friday 8th.
- Peter Niklas D on 1000 SP Turbo Honda 7.394/172.66
- Malte Foit D on water-cooled Rotax Buell with longer swing arm 8.060/130.43
- Janek Severa CZ on Suzuki 1000 V-Twin 11.873/57.83, was not running well.
E1: Lymant 5.219/220.86 def. Severa 8.562-118.81, Petersen 6.214/179.10 def. Schleilichert 6.308/173.49, Menzi 5.669/201.12 bye (Malte Foit broke), Jolink 5.941/201.68 def. Herr 7.403/131.39 (Herr waited a long time to go into stage, Jolink staged first and made a nice straight pass), Caspari 6.182/173.91 bye (Peter Niklas broke), Waterschoot 6.524/173.91 def. Buehler 10.449/134.33 (problems with the slider clutch).
E2: Lymant 5.250/222.22 def. Petersen 6.214/177.78, Menzi 5.396/216.22 def. Jolink 5.864/201.68 (after re-run, the first time the timing did not work), Caspari 5.611/200.56 def. Waterschoot 6.941/160.36
Semis: Lymant 5.159/222.91 bye, Menzi 5.285/214.29 def. Caspari 7.794/109.09 (clutch problems)
Final: Jorg Lymant D (0.159) 5.235/220.18 def. Olaf Menzi CH (0.284) 5.269/220.18, Menzi's riding this weekend was very good.
Championship standings:
- Lymant D 1370
- Buehler CH 760
- Menzi CH 750
- Jolink NL 520
- Niklas D 520
- Waterschoot B 480
- Jensen DK 470
- Caspari D 440
- Schleichert D 400
- Malmberg S 380
- Foit D 360
- Petersen D 310
- Larsson S 300
- Brodbeck CH 300
- Severa CR 150
Web site updates.
20th June: Regular readers will have noticed a pause in postings on our Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored Swap Meet. There was a problem which has now been fixed and Your News Editor spent a couple of hours last night clearing the queue. If you have submitted an ad for the Swap Meet and it is still not showing then please either resubmit it via the Swap Meet page or E-Mail your advertisement to editor@eurodragster.com. Self-posting is also available using a link which we can supply on request; simply E-Mail us at the Editor address and we will send the link to you by return.
The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with two large galleries from the Doorslammers at Santa Pod Raceway. You can take a look at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.
More work towards 200 mph.
18th June: Blown-nitro Daimler dragster racer Robin Read has been in touch to confirm that his six-second dragster
will be contesting the Cannonball at Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway on
13th-15th July:
We have made a few changes to the car since last season. The engine was experiencing more frequent valve train damage which was, in part, caused by the tune-up we were running; it is much harder to control engine RPM with nitro loads in excess of 90%. To help with this, some new rear end gears have been sourced which are 3.2:1. We have changed this from 3.5:1 and these are street gears as race gears are no longer available in the ratio we require for the Chrysler 8¾ axle - if they ever were! The gears have been re heat-treated by Tamworth Heat Treatment, the process softens them slightly thereby increasing the resistance to shatter due to the shock loading. If the gears survive then this should also increase top end speed. We are hopeful that there could be a world first 200 mph quarter mile by a British-engined car at Dragstalgia.
We have also re-engineered the rocker geometry which had over the years changed from the optimal pattern to less than ideal caused by increased valve sizes which required pocketing deeper into the chambers. We also have longer valve stems to enable fitting of stronger springs. There have been other changes as successive generations of heads were developed. Bertie Hopkinson has spent a considerable time mapping the valve and rocker movement and machining new components to bring the geometry back to the optimum setting. This has caused other issues, for example the push rods were the wrong length, so a whole set of push rods have been made from heat-treated titanium tubing. The rockers also contacted the valve covers requiring machining apertures in the covers and welding patches to get the required clearance.
The whole team are looking forward to taking part in Dragstalgia again. We realise that we will be the underdog, but with everything to play for we will be running the car as hard as we dare. And probably further.
I would like to thank Tamworth Heat Treatment for their work, and I would also like to thank my crew Mark Evans, Bertie Hopkinson, Bill Mears and Ella Chapman without whom I could not continue.
All Betts are on.
18th June: UK Nostalgia Funny Car racer Tony Betts went into the FIA/FIM Main Event hoping for good things, and got them:
We had a new supercharger from DMPE via ex-pat Baz Young, so Kevin Miller had to come up with a fuel setting to suit the new blower. We had a new set-up on the clutch as
well, so we had a lot of changes. To make sure that we have all runs logged Dick Koster and Racepak set us up with all the parts needed to make sure that we knew everything
which happened on a run.
We decided to do a launch to 330 feet on the Thursday and all was good. On Saturday we were ready and the weather was good, Venom launched real hard and kept pulling all the way. I knew it was a good run and that was confirmed when the crew came down to get the car, 6.03/233. The crew stripped the car ready for the evening run but we were bumped until Sunday.
Sunday's run was a repeat of Saturday but I short-shifted and ended up with a 6.01/245. We were all well pleased and had a great weekend, two very good runs.
The crew were awesome working on the car and talking to spectators including a talk to three sets of students. Vicky was busy selling T-Shirts and giving away hero cards etc. As we have now got used to, Elaine kept the whole team fed and watered. We're now looking forward to the next meeting.
Big thanks to Lucas Oil, DMPE, Super Power Unlimited, JA Mackenzie Haulage and MHD Group Ltd for their continued support.
Impeccable timing.
18th June: Honorary Eurodragster.com Staff Member and Timing and Stats guru Andy Marrs has been hard at work bringing his various analyses and spreadsheetosaurs up to date.
Firstly Marrs has confirmed the Bump Spot and Side-by-Side records which were broken at last weekend's Tierp Internationals:
- FIA Top Fuel Dragster side-by-side ET
- FIA Top Fuel Dragster side-by-side speed (NB first side-by-side runs over 500 kmh)
- FIA Pro Modified side-by-side ET
- FIA Pro Modified side-by-side speed
- FIA Pro Stock side-by-side speed
- FIA Pro Modified sixteen-car bump spot
- FIA Pro Stock eight-car bump spot
Marrs has also updated his table of round wins in the FIA European Drag Racing Championships and introduced an equivalent table of round wins in the FIM Europe Drag Bike Championships. Notable in the FIA round wins table is Jimmy Ålund becoming the first FIA-class racer to exceed 150 career round wins, which he achieved at the FIA/FIM Main Event. Marrs' newly-completed table of FIM career round wins is led by retired Pro Stock Bike racer Roger Pettersson although fellow Pro Stock Bike racer Fredrik Fredlund is a mere one round behind him:
- Click here for the table of FIA Championship round wins
- Click here for the table of FIM Championship round wins
- Click here for the table of FIA Championship qualifying and results
- Click here for the table of FIM Championship qualifying and results
SFI Foundation wins Achievement Award.
18th June: The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame and Lucas Oil Products UK are delighted to announce that the SFI Foundation is to receive the 2018 BDRHoF Lucas Oil Global Achievement Award. The Award will be presented at the BDRHoF Gala Awards Dinner which will be held at the historic Oatlands Park Hotel, Weybridge, Surrey on 17th November.
The SFI Foundation came into being in 1978 as a specifications programme which had previously been pioneered in 1963 by the then-named
Speed Equipment Manufacturers Association (now Specialty Equipment Marketing Association). As a separate organisation, and in an era in which
failures were all too common, the SFI Foundation drove up standards for racing parts and safety equipment. SFI Foundation Inc has sixty four
motor racing sanctioning bodies as its members, applying the standards which it sets. On its creation in 1996, the FIA Drag Racing Commission
joined the SFI and Santa Pod Racers Club has been a member of the SFI Foundation since 2000.
Carl Olson said "I speak for each and every one of our staff members when I say that we're honoured and humbled by this Award. Because SFI is a not-for-profit foundation that does absolutely no advertising or promotion, it's easy to assume that its work takes place under the radar. While there's a huge amount of pride in knowing that SFI's work significantly improves the level of safety at motorsport events, each and every one of the small but efficient SFI team dedicates every minute of every working day to the cause of maintenance and improvement of motorsport safety."
Accepting the Award on SFI's behalf will be Vice President Jennifer Faye, who has managed day-to-day operations at SFI for many years. Jennifer is familiar to many European racers as administrator of the SFI Recertification Tour which, with the involvement of Tech Inspectors Andy Robinson, Luke Robinson and L-G Eriksson, attends four locations to inspect various key components.
BDRHoF Chairman Stuart Bradbury said "We have selected SFI Foundation for the Lucas Oil Global Achievement Award in recognition for its raising
of safety standards in drag racing and motorsports in general. The standards applied to our sport have undoubtedly saved lives and prevented serious
injuries. As well as the specs programme SFI certifies technical inspectors, incident response training and enables manufacturers to test their products.
These all have a crucial part in creating a safe environment for drag racing and motor sport in general."
The BDRHoF will be taking reservations for the 2018 Gala Awards Dinner by E-Mail at stuart@britishdragracinghof.co.uk or by telephone on 01933 279102. This year the dinner tickets, which include table wine, are competitively priced at £70, £5 more than 2017 due to price increases. The BDRHoF have managed to keep the same rates for hotel rooms of £115 for double rooms and £94 for single rooms which includes breakfast and VAT as well as parking. The event always sells out well in advance, so if you would like to join us for the occasion we suggest that you make your reservation sooner rather than later. On receiving your reservation you will be given the procedure to book rooms.
On-going news about the Gala, sponsors and other events in which the BDRHoF is involved is regularly published on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame web site at www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk, here on Eurodragster.com, and on Facebook and Twitter.
Web site updates.
18th June: Our good buddy Remco Scheelings has posted two Tierp Internationals reports on the Autosport.nl web site. There is a race report which you can check out by clicking here and a report of "Other things I saw" which you can check out by clicking here. Don't worry if you can't read Dutch because, as ever, it is pretty clear what is being said and if you were paying attention to our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Tierp Internationals coverage you will know how good Remco's pictures are.
Retro Show gallery.
17th June: Many thanks to Eurodragster.com off-track photographer Diana Macrae for sending us a gallery of pictures from today's Retro Show at Santa Pod Raceway.
You can check out DD's mainly off-track Retro Show gallery, which is presented in association with John Woolfe Racing, by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage gallery on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Torches at the ready...
17th June: Paul Marston writes that Rockingham Dragstrip will host No Prep Nationals 3 on Bank Holiday Monday, 27th August:
After the runaway success of No Prep Nationals 2, held over the Mayday Bank Holiday, Rockingham were keen to hold another event this year. Rockingham Dragstrip is an eighth-mile No Prep track; the track is the Pit Road of the Super Speedway and makes for an excellent No Prep venue. Hosting some of the fastest No Prep cars in the country, this event is one to put in your diary.
No Prep 3 will feature some exciting upgrades, with two Heads Up feature classes: Big Tyre, and yet another first here in the UK, Small Tyre. Big Tyre is, as the name says, for big slick race cars and street cars, plus the addition of 4WD cars, to make the mix of competitors even more exciting. Other than safety there are no rules on engine size, minimum weight or power adders. No Prep 2 had twenty four cars competing, the addition of 4WD should ensure that this count stays about the same or maybe even grows. Either way, with at least £1500 cash up for grabs there is plenty to play for. There are still sponsorship bonuses to add, so expect the prize money to hit nearer £2000 if the car count remains good. Same as last time it's a flashlight start, no ET and no speed.
Next up is No Prep Small Tyre, which never been done here in the UK before. Expect this class to bring out some real sleepers and shockers, the small tyre size is a max of 275 Drag Radial or an equivalent in a slick. This is also open to FWD cars and in their case there is no restriction on tyre size. That's it, other than safety anything goes, you have just got to make it stick to the track. Any amount of motor, power adders, grip juice, no minimum weight, just bring it and have at it. This class will be wide open as it's simply never been done before. The entry fee and the prizemoney is the same as big tyre, so based on a sixteen-car plus field there would be £1500 plus in cash to be won and expect that to grow with sponsors. As with Big Tyre it's a flashlight start, no ET and no speed, just like Street Outlaws.
Both classes random pairing and lane choice out of the hat.
By popular demand No Prep 3 also features the addition of full Portatree timing equipment for the next new class, Monster High Roller Bracket Racing. This is an all-run bracket race class, you can run simply any door car. You have read accounts on Eurodragster.com of people racing in big bracket races in the States with rental cars. Well now is your chance to compete in the very same class here. All you need is a UK driving license and a car. Anything from a street car to a race car, it's eighth-mile No Prep, so no high-horsepower Super Pro race cars please. This is for fun and a very nice prize fund: a thirty two-car field will pay £1500 cash to the winner and pay to semi-finalists at least. First round buybacks will be available at £30. There will be one time trial run in the morning then the first round. Random pairings and lane choice out of a hat.
Otherwise you can just come and join in the fun with the Run What You Brung, which now features timing tickets. You can RWYB all day long in between the above classes; at No Prep 2 there was plenty of RWYB time available and No Prep 3 will doubtless be the same.
For entry forms with a more detailed information pack and garage bookings, please E-Mail pmdragracing@gmail.com, or contact us through the Rockingham Dragstrip Facebook page.
From the spectator and fan point of view, there are great viewing positions to he had, pit and garage access, plus a huge drifting event with one hundred drift cars booked in on the same day. There is also a huge Rod and Custom Show on the outer paddock, and the exhibition centre is also open with those real high-end Rods and Customs you so rarely see. Make a date, see you there.
Bug Jam entry update.
15th June: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 1 of the official entry list for Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Friday-Sunday 20th-22nd July (racing Saturday and Sunday). You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
The official closing date for Bug Jam entry is two weeks today, Friday 29th, after which entry, if accepted, may be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can find the official Bug Jam entry forms on the Information link of the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
If you have any queries about Bug Jam entry then please get in touch with Ian on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.
WBR check in from Numidia.
14th June: Nic Williams of Eurodragster.com sponsor OCS Paint has been in touch from the USA where he is all set to contest the first race of Williams Bros Racing's US Tour:
We set off on our first trip to the USA on Sunday afternoon and checked into our hotel to get rested ready for Monday. The first item to collect was the hire truck, followed by the trailer which we bought off the internet having had it checked out by a contact in the States. Finally we collected the Camaro and headed over to Brian Tilburg's place just outside New York where we knew everything would be safe. Tuesday was spent recommissioning the race car and having plenty of time with Brian. We also had to spend a fair amount of time on the trailer cleaning inside and out and repairing the hinges on the rear door.
We made the customary raid on Walmart yesterday resulting in the purchase of much-needed supplies for the remainder of the trip including a massive coolbox and three pit bikes. Today we head over to the drag strip which will be our base for the next four days. We will be racing in Stock, and early indications are that more than sixty cars will be in this class alone! You will be able to see the web broadcasts live on YouTube: We would like to thank our sponsors and supporters without whose help this trip would not be possible:
- Flightcase Warehouse, the best company in the UK for bespoke and standard cases for motorsport and live events industry;
- Sayers Motor Factors, our number one supplier for paint and material products, a company that gives the very best service and very competitive prices;
- Expression Events, Paul and his team can cater for all manner of live events and promotions within the motor industry;
- G23 Engineering, from bespoke CNC projects to production of components for automotive and aerospace technology;
- Knight Engine Services, a great company for all your automotive boring, honing and cylinder head services, superb quality every time;
- BSI Transport Ltd, a supporter of British drag racing and a superb company for all your transport requirements from a pallet delivery to international haulage;
- Xpertees (Mick Bell), Wow! They dealt with the difficult design and number of colours turned out the order in super fast time, fantastic quality, the very best service, well recommended for all your printing requirements. Thank you;
- Doug Tait Design, a genius with design and development thank you so much for you help;
- Anglo American Oil Company, for all the Joe Gibbs oil supplied for the whole trip, a very professional company with great stock. Thank you;
- Tilburg Racing Engines, Brian Tilburg is the best guy out there for Stock / Super Stock engines, and his support has been fantastic.
So that's all the Thank Yous done, time to go racing. Follow Williams Bros Racing for updates and robzneed4speed on Facebook for live feeds.
A big Thank You to Colin Theobald for forwarding us this news item - Ed
Swift snippets.
14th June: We were very sorry to learn of the death of US legend Tom Mongoo$e McEwen. Our introduction to The Goose was in the 1970s courtesy of the excellent film Once Upon A Wheel which, if you have not seen it, you should see. We never had the privilege of meeting Tom but he was one of the small but select group of racers whom you felt you knew anyway. Our sympathies to Tom's family and friends. A typical and fitting tribute to The Goose is that from John Force which you can check out on Competition Plus by clicking here.
Entry forms are now available for Santa Pod Raceway's 6th Annual Junior Drag Racing Fun Day which takes place on Thursday 23rd August. You can download the entry form by clicking here (PDF format), but Juniors wishing to take part in the Fun Day day will need to telephone the Santa Pod office to book their race voucher. The race entry fee of £20 will go towards this year's chosen charity For Zachary DayZaway. For more information on the Junior Fun Day, visit the event page on Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.co.uk/juniorday.php.
Pete Walters of Eurodragster.com sponsor Pete Walters Race Design is offering Shakespeare Country Raceway
Never Forgotten T-shirts, part of the proceeds of which will go to the Shakespeare Hospice. The premium quality shirts are available in mens' and
womens' fit and in sizes Small - 2XL. The design features large print on the back and small print on left breast. Prices are £17.50 mailed or £15
collected. Order on-line at pwrdapparel.bigcartel.com and use the discount code
TRACKCOLLECT if you want to pay in advance and collect at the SPRC Summernationals. You can pay in cash at the event, but Pete cannnot guarantee
availability.
Editor's note: As you may well have worked out, the recovery from the Tierp Internationals has taken a little longer than usual. The bounce-back has begun and we will catch up with the rest of the news backlog on the next update, due on Saturday.
France, you have been warned.
14th June: UK Outlaw Anglia Racer Colin Millar says that a number of OA racers answered the call for expressions of interest in making a trip to France's Clastres Dragway next week:
None of us have been before so we kind of relied on Billy Gane, who has been over several times, telling us what the place was like and what the track was like. All of the feedback from Billy was good describing toilets and shower block, some food stalls and a baker's van bringing in fresh bread and milk in the mornings. So we set the wheels in motion and have a final count of six Outlaws attending. We are all going out to race in RWYB so that we can all just have fun and have a wee race together, as well as a crack with everyone else attending.
The final list was Mick Taylor, Ronnie Mercer, Rob Stone, Scott Crookston, Garry Hill and myself. For sure there will be lots of laughs along the
way and fingers crossed everyone makes it to the track. It is less than two hours directly south from Calais. We will of course bring the presence
of Outlaw Anglia to France and I'm sure they will enjoy us as much as we will enjoy them. We are all planning to be in bed by 10:00 pm and I don't
think that there will be any time for alcoholic beverages and late night parties, as Billy says he is normally very tired due to the amount of garlic he
consumes. I'm sure he said garlic!
It's a fair old run down from sunny Scotland for Scott and I, but once we set off it's only eleven hours and we should be used to it by now. My long-suffering Lynn will be tagging along as she does love a wee holiday in France.
We are really looking forward to this as it's something different. Some of the guys and girls, including us, are staying in France until the Friday morning then we're back over to Santa Pod for the Summernationals.
There is a decent British contingent heading over with Harry Redshaw and Frankie Taylor in Junior Dragster, Stephen West and Clive Dandridge in Street, Christopher Redshaw in Pro ET, and Billy Gane and Glen Pallent in Super Pro ET. I'm sure we will all represent our country with pride and have a few laughs along the way.
Hopefully the car will stay in one piece this time, unlike at the Main Event. This new engine was finding a few weak spots but is all fixed with stronger and better solutions - thanks to Andy Frost at Penn Autos and Geof Hauser at Hauser Race Cars.
We will catch up with everyone at the Summernationals.
Ale aboard for Bloodwise.
14th June: Darren Prentice of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch with an update on the special ale
which will be on sale to benefit Bloodwise at Dragstalgia:
As part of the Bloodwise fundraising at last year's UK National Finals, we held a Name The Ale competition which was won by Jon Morton. Quarter Porter was Jon's winning name, chosen by the Santa Pod Raceway staff. After liaising with Jon a design for the ale pump was created; Jon suggested an image of the iconic Al's Gasser Ford Pop under the famous Santa Pod finish gantry.
Our good friends at Pot Belly Brewery have donated a barrel of Quarter Porter to be sold at Dragstalgia. All proceeds from this barrel will go directly into fundraising for this year's UK National Finals, again in aid of Bloodwise.
Quarter Porter is a 4.6% mild with cocoa, vanilla and fruit cake aromas backed by a satisfying yet subtle bitterness. Very drinkable! So make sure that you visit the Beer Festival trailer located at Fuelers bar in the marquee where you can buy a refreshing pint of Quarter Porter.
Our thanks to Pot Belly Brewery, Paul Savage and all the staff in Fuelers bar, and to everyone who entered the Name The Ale competition helping to raise some of the staggering £6,500 for Bloodwise last year.
SPRC Summernationals entry update.
12th June: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us the final version of the official entry list for the SPRC Summernationals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 30th June-1st July. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
If you have any queries about the SPRC Summernationals then please get in touch with Ian on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.
Tierp Internationals results.
10th June: Congratulations to today's winners at the Tierp Internationals at Tierp Arena:
FIA Top Fuel Dragster: Anita Mäkelä 4.8413/247.03 def. Micke Kågered 10.2018/123.37
FIA Top Methanol: Dennis Habermann 5.3273/436.89 def. Timo Habermann 5.4320/424.19
FIA Pro Modified: Andreas Arthursson 5.8822/407.55 bye, Jimmy Ålund did not start
FIA Pro Stock: Michael Malmgren 6.6295/337.92 def. Stefan Ernryd 6.6517/318.21 DQ red
Swedish Pro Modified Championship Round 1: Jimmy Ålund 5.8486/391.16 def. Micke Gullqvist 5.8915/400.30
Comp Eliminator: Jens Eklund (7.86) 7.5046/271.08 def. Gideon Liljegren (7.79) 8.9427/175.21
Super Comp: Micke Nilsson 8.9188/258.25 def. Johanna Granholm 8.8704/258.74 DQ b/o
Super Gas: Patrik Wickman 9.9901/210.77 def. Annica Larsson 9.9686/212.01
Super Street: Isak Lagg 10.9635/204.78 def. Åke Törnqvist 10.9464/185.95
Stock / Super Stock: Rick McCann (9.96) 9.9958/204.86 def. Per Fagerström (10.20) 10.2883/208.33
Pro Street: Christian Kongshem 7.6114/295.93 def. Lars Berglund 7.6631/291.26
Street: Helena Olsson 8.6473/247.25 bye, Angelica Larsson broke
Junior Dragster: Laura Blomberg (7.96) 8.0107/131.10 def. Lina Andersson (9.06) 9.1037/111.36 DQ red
EDRS Pro Nordic MC Top Fuel Bike: Rikard Gustafsson 6.0650/376.57 def. Peter Andersson 7.3691/302.86
EDRS Pro Nordic MC Supertwin: Vesa Lipponen 6.3069/328.47 def. Marcus Christiansen 6.4189/345.93
EDRS Pro Nordic MC Pro Stock Bike: Thomas Lysebraate Olsen 7.1839/301.17 bye
EDRS Pro Nordic MC Super Street Bike: Mathias Bohlin 7.1311/330.48 def. Mogens Lund 7.6124/212.68
Super Comp Bike: Ulf Fridolfsson 8.6271/251.51 def. Anders Gerdtsson 8.7908/233.77
Super Gas Bike: Jami Oksanen 9.6005/199.48 def. Ellen Ødegaard 9.6252/222.22
Junior Drag Bike: John Rolfstad (7.35) 7.6276/146.70 def. Eemeli Helkkala (7.25) 7.9155/112.50 DQ red
The event featured quickest-ever bump spots in FIA Pro Modified and FIA Pro Stock as well as quickest side-by-sides in FIA Top Fuel Dragster and FIA Pro Modified. There are likely more such records but we will go through the timing data properly when we get a chance to sit back and draw breath.
Many thanks to Åsa Kinnemar for passing us the post-event standings in the FIA European Drag Racing Championships. You can check out the European points on our OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page which you can reach by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Tierp Internationals reports, pit notes and galleries on our Event Index by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
A big Thank You to Remco Scheelings and to Lena Perés for providing us with photographs throughout the event.
Swift snippets.
7th June: The UK's Paul Watson sent us this shot of his Grumpy's T blown-alcohol altered
being fired up at his workshop. A bit of work on the timing then, Paul says, he plans to test at the Retro Show at
Santa Pod Raceway.
Tomorrow (Friday 8th) is the official closing date for entry to the SPRC Summernationals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 30th June-1st July. You can find official SPRC Summernationals entry forms on the Information link of the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc, and you can check out Version 4 of the SPRC Summernationals entry list, courtesy of Ian Marshall, by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If you have any queries about SPRC Summernationals entry then please get in touch with Ian on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.
Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our own Simon for posting the post-FIA/FIM Main Event points standings in the UK National Drag Racing and Santa Pod Racers Club Championships. You can check out the UK points on our OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page which you can reach by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Thanks to MSA British Championship PR Robin Jackson for letting us know that the official Pro Mod race report and accompanying data from the FIA/FIM Main Event are now available on the MSA British Drag Racing Championship web site at www.msadragracing.co.uk.
The month of May at Santa Pod Raceway.
7th June: Keith Bartlett CEO of Trakbak Racing Ltd writes:
The month of May at Santa Pod Raceway was a very different story to the previous 3 months – firstly we managed to hold four events with a minimum amount of rain, which was a new experience in 2108. Secondly, we held two new events within a three-week period of May. Thirdly we managed to see our new concrete track in action after months of delays caused through wet cold weather.
The first new event (for Santa Pod) was the 'Nostalgia Nationals' an existing NSRA event previously held at Shakespeare County Raceway (now closed for housing development). We are happy with how the first year went, especially given that it rained all day Saturday. We feel that working with the NSRA and the promoters we can help them to build that event to become a much bigger event all round, while totally retaining its DNA and laid back atmosphere.
This was followed by the new event the 'Door Slammers' run the week before the Main Event. This was a combination of being a KB vanity project (from my street racing days with 'Slick Tricks Racing') along with the potential to become a major event on the Santa Pod calendar within three years including the first year 2018 – any new event will take 3 years to become established or not as the case may be. We pride ourselves at Santa Pod Raceway that we generally get it right most times. 'Dragstalgia' only took 4 years to really take off due to the first two years being rained out – today that event is massive. Meanwhile the 'Door Slammers' event was blessed with glorious weather the whole weekend – always a bonus in any events first year. I believe the whole event was a huge success and it seems that the feedback from the racers, teams and spectators are all in agreement – it was a brilliant event! I am sure that paying out £75,000 in prize money for what was basically a street racing style and format event added to the success. At the Door Slammers, we also introduced on-line betting to drag racing for the first time ever anywhere. That too was very successful, although we intend to take the development of that area of our business very carefully and sensibly. On a personal note, I am keen to keep the on-line betting down to small wagers and bets, making it more of a family add-on to the day out, or to add some extra excitement for the people watching the livestream at home. All in all, it was a very successful event and I am already looking forward to next year's 'Door Slammers' where I anticipate a much greater entry in all classes as a result of this year's event. Note the 2019 'Door Slammers' will again be the weekend prior to the Main Event.
The week between the 'Door Slammers' and the 'Main Event' was hectic to say the least. Not only did we have the launch of the new Ford Mustang with the press and media on Wednesday, but there was also lots of demonstration runs being made in front of the people from Ford. We have been working with Ford for some months - seeking to see if we can get them into drag racing in Europe, especially, at Santa Pod. That project is ongoing. As always, I used Freddie Fagerström to do some demo runs in his 'Pro-Modified' truck – (even if it is a Chevy truck) running in front of the people at Ford and more importantly the press and media – both were blown away by pro drag racing vehicles. In addition, we ran Ford Mustang bodied cars from other classes, including Kevin Kent in his Ford Mustang bodied nitro Funny Car – just the launch blew all the press and media away! Some had never seen drag racing live before. We have just done the same with Jaguar cars. Another successful day for Santa Pod and British drag racing. We do hold many of these type events and corporate promotions throughout the year, many of which produce good benefits to Santa Pod and drag racing overall.
Then came the big one – the 'Main Event' and the first round of the 2018 FIA & FIM European Drag Racing Championships. Several of us at Santa Pod were quite nervous going into this event as this was going to be the first event on the new concrete track with all the professional classes running in both FIA and FIM classes – yes, the 'Door Slammers' had shown the track capability for the Pro Modified and other door slammer classes, but how would the Top Fuel Dragsters and Pro Stock cars along with the Top Fuel Bikes and Super Twin Bikes perform – well the times said it all on Saturday's qualifying sessions – plus with some good records set along with many PB's plus a sub top-ten fastest time run in the world in a door slammer (at the Door Slammers) and the fifth fastest ever run for a Top Fuel Bike, means the track does have the potential that we thought it was going to have. When we do get the track surface to the standard required (there is a lot more work to be carried out), then at that level of track performance, coupled with the race teams dialing into the track - it could become one of the worlds super-fast drag racing tracks – only time will tell, but you never know we may be able to reach that situation sometime in in 2019…
The Main Event also saw us changing slightly the format of our livestream web-based broadcast programs. The majority of the broadcast was via 'Facebook live' and we have experimented with many new add on graphics, plus a new style of presentation and interviews involving a more rugged and street style program. This will appeal more to our younger audience which will hopefully lead to more young viewers and wider interests in drag racing - not just yet another motor sport, but as an entertainment activity for the non-motor sport people. Those people who work with me and know how I operate, know that is the market I have been targeting with Santa Pod Raceway and the FIA and FIM European Drag Racing Championships over the past 2-3 years and which I will continue to expand into in the next coming 2-3 years.
For those of you old enough, like me, to understand this slogan – 'the future is Orange' - for Trakbak Racing and Santa Pod Raceway it is looking that way...
Tale of a Good track.
7th June: FIA/FIM Main Event Gearhead Garage Super Pro ET winner Nick Good says that the weekend
had great weather, great competition, a track with which the team could definitely work, and an unexpected result:
I would normally stick a couple of photos of the dragster on here but the stars of the show were team-mates Cristiann Carlo, Greg and Terry Robins and Chrissie Fox. We made ten runs over the weekend and the car was at its best every time. It definitely makes driving easier when a team is that good.
Not having not run on the new track it was a case of basing our dial-in on the tarmac track. The changes we had made to the dragster over the winter had added some weight and calmed the car down slightly, so we went with a 6.88 and ran 6.886. Good enough to take the Super Pro award for being number one qualifier off the trailer; I had forgotten but Julie Walters reminded us we did the same at the 2017 Main Event.
After that first run, and knowing we were in the field, it was a case of trying to understand the track, lane differences, changes due to the weather, glue etc. It is very different to the old track and some cars have taken to it better than others, it changed through this weekend and will change through the season as it beds in, but that's good, and interesting, and a challenge for the teams.
Eliminations were fairly straightforward. A more than tight semi final win against Paul Pryzybyl, 0.008 secs at the stripe, twenty five inches, neither of us ever sees
the win lights and so we had to wait for the crews to come down to know who had won. The final was against Dave Evans, with two of the more senior racers going
for the win - the Super Pro kids aren't going to have things all their own way yet! Dave made it easy for me in the final by pulling a red.
It has been a few years since our last win so Thank You to our sponsors who support us, especially to Les Downey for having faith and sticking with us over the years; Lucas Oil Products are the best bar none and play an essential part in the wins for the other racers in our team Brad Jackson, Dave Catton and Chris Parker. Our other partners are Samco Sport, Chris Brown Body Repairs, Johnson Ironworks, Morris Armitage, Leatt Brace, East Coast Signs, Windscreen Wizards, BGC Motorsport Components, and Carter Haulage and Storage.
The new Santa Pod track is going to be awesome. It's a learning curve for everyone at the moment, roll on the Summer Nationals!
Captain Caveman's double trouble.
7th June: After a very positive weekend at the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals, at which his Oldmobile ran consistently around 10.90 seconds, the UK's Alan Medley and the Captain Caveman team decided upon a double-entry at the FIM/FIM Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway. Emma Doyley takes up the story of the team's fateful outing in Modurstang Pro ET and Super Street:
The double entry meant that a few adjustments were needed, so the car firstly went to Webster Race Engineering to have new roll cage fitted.
The Main Event weekend didn't go smoothly; problems with the alternator bracket and belts made for a testing few days. A big Thank You to Redneck Racing for all their help in keeping us going! Despite this we ended Friday qualified sixth in Pro ET and fourth in Super Street.
Round 1 of Pro ET took place on the Sunday. We faced James Oliver in the Williams Bros Firebird, Alan went 11.16 on an 11.12 while James went red. Round 2 was on Monday and we faced Karen Stevens in the Lass Vega, looking stunning after its off-season work. This time was Alan's turn to go red and Karen went through to the next round.
In Round 1 of Super Street we faced Karen again. No matter how hard we tried we couldn't get the car back to 10.90 times which it ran at the Nostalgias, so it would be a tough race. Alan pulled a 0.3 light so we knew that Karen had it. Despite this it was a brilliant race to watch, until things started to go wrong. As Karen's car turned right and gathered ours up, all we wanted was for both drivers to get out unharmed. As much as we suffered, Karen bore the brunt of the collision and we are all pleased to hear that she is making a slow but steady recovery. We hope that she continues to improve and look forward to seeing her at the track again. Unfortunately this is one of the risks of racing, something which we accept every time we get in a car, so there is no need for apologies.
We owe a lot of people a huge Thank You. Firstly the Santa Pod crew and medics whose quick reactions and excellent support was unbelievable. Then thanks to Kirstie Tramm for quickly pointing the Caveman Crew in the right direction, Spencer Tramm for providing a voice of reason and much-needed transport, Elaine Hancock for running to our aid and holding our hands throughout, John and Billy Everitt for stepping in and getting Alan's family to where they needed to be, to Dave Cherrett and Nigel Hale for looking after Gill, and to Andy Dibley for turning round when he was half way home to make sure that his 'Dad' was OK. Finally, thank you to all everyone who sent us their best wishes, we are sorry for scaring / worrying you.
But now it is onwards and upwards, we won't let this hold us back. We'll be back at the Summernationals with the His'n'Hers Mustangs whilst we work out what will become of the Oldstimer Oldsmobile.
Tierp Internationals webcast.
6th June: Thanks to Åsa Kinnemar of Speedgroup for confirming that this week's Tierp Internationals
is to be webcast free courtesy of Nitroz TV and Tierp Arena.
Broadcast commences at 09:00 local and continues whilst the track is open between tomorrow (Thursday) and Sunday.
You will be able to tune in at www.twitch.tv/nitrozplay. A link is also available on our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Tierp Internationals Event Index by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
SPRC Summernationals entry update.
6th June: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 3 of the official entry list for the SPRC Summernationals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 30th June-1st July. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
The official closing date for SPRC Summernationals entry is this Friday (8th) after which entry, if accepted, may be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can find the official SPRC Summernationals entry forms on the Information link of the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
If you have any queries about SPRC Summernationals entry then please get in touch with Ian on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.
Reminder: APIRA racing members.
6th June: Ian Marshall also asked us to remind racing members of the Avon Park International Racing Association that their APIRA memberships will be honoured throughout 2018 when entering SPRC-organised races. Then from 2019 it will be necessary to be an SPRC member.
If you have any queries about Club memberships then please get in touch with Ian on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.
EDRS Pro Motorcycles kick-off.
6th June: The EDRS Pro Nordic Motorcycle Championship kicks off with its traditional opener, the Tierp Internationals at Tierp Arena, this weekend, writes Remco Scheelings:
Stability is what teams and promoters want and so the most prestigious motorcycle championship of Northern Europe once again counts six different categories and will be decided in four races. Tommy Grimes Jr, Thomas Lysebraate Olsen, Jan Sturla Hegre, Mogens Lund, Emil Östlund and Iiro Reinola are the 2017 Champions and until a few weeks ago the great news was that they would all be back at Tierp to start their title defence. Unfortunately, the Beast Dragbike Team have had to withdraw their entry as Tommy has to deal with some health issues and can't come to Europe.
Looking at the entry lists, the five defending champions will get nothing for granted and will meet tough competition. You can read more on the Drag Racing Europe Blog by clicking here.
Herbert's pain of an Event.
6th June: FIA/FIM Main Event Modurstang Pro ET winner Keith Herbert took the event title even though Team Furyous' weekend had an inauspicious start:
An awful tummy bug stopped me wandering too far from the motorhome; a painful groin injury not helped by the Irish dancing in our pit on Friday night didn't help... apologies to our long-suffering neighbours.
Qualifying was a bit hit and miss, swapping dial-ins then breaking out with a PB of 9.43 and finishing up twelfth. I had a bit of luck in the first round when Guy King rolled through,
it happened to us last year so knew how he felt. Unfortunately our next opponent Wayne Hiscock had broken, which was a shame as we haven't met up for years. In to the quarters
after Karen's and Alan's awful crash, I am so glad that they were both OK as well as Mike who was so distraught when he came back from the line. Newbie Ben Newsome, who was
dynamite in the last round against Mike, had me worried about this one but he was a tad late on the Tree and that gave me the win.
The semi-final against Nick Barnett's high-riding Falcon was a fantastic race, so tight at the top end, so a good job that I cut a 0.004 as I would have been in the poo again, literally. On to the final against Paul Brown's dragster, we had all the time in the world to get the car turned around until we were called and it wouldn't start. We all kept our cool and methodically worked through the problem... not! Swearing, tools flying, shouting the blame etc raised the stress levels and no time to use the toilet. Paul lost time at the hit, I cut a slightly better light and took my first Main Event win.
A big Thank You to all the Pod crew and staff, to Eurodragster.com (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed), to commentator Colin for the kind words at the presentation, and finally to my crew Jim Massey, Kyleigh Devlin, Paul Hawkins and of course my beautiful Anna. Thank you to my crew for everything.
Lucas Oil sponsor Hall of Fame.
4th June: The British Drag Racing
Hall of Fame is excited to announce that Lucas Oil Products
has agreed to become its headline sponsor. Lucas Oil Products is an American manufacturer and distributor of automotive oil,
additives, and lubricants and was founded by ex-trucker Forrest Lucas and his wife Charlotte in 1989.
In drag racing, Lucas sponsors several NHRA events and many drag racers in the US, Europe and Australia. It also sponsors other forms of motorsport with its marketing platform Team Lucas and, since 2011, has owned the cable network MAVTV, which it has transformed into a leading motorsports network Lucas Oil Racing TV. In Europe, Lucas has a network of retailers extending right across the continent.
Les Downey, Managing Director of Lucas Oil UK, said "Since it was formed almost twenty years ago, Lucas Oil has been
heavily involved in supporting UK and European Drag Racing. Our story has been built upon hard work, an unparalleled
line of premium lubricants and fuel treatments and an unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction. So we are proud
as providers of premium products to be associated with the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, which has grown into an
organisation which honours the great champions of the sport."
Stuart Bradbury, Chairman of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, said "We are very grateful to Forrest, Les and their
teams for the support that Lucas Oil Products have given to many racers and drag racing tracks and events over the
years and it is a great pleasure for me to have them step up to become headline sponsor. We look forward to a long
and fruitful partnership as the BDRHoF continues to celebrate our wonderful sport."
The BDRHoF will be taking reservations for the 2018 Gala Awards Dinner by E-Mail to stuart@britishdragracinghof.co.uk or by telephone on 01933 279102. This year the dinner tickets, which include table wine, are priced competitively at £70 each, an increase of £5 due to price rises. The HoF has managed to keep the same rates for hotel rooms at £115 for double rooms and £94 single which includes breakfast and VAT as well as parking. The event always sells out well in advance, so if you would like to join us for the occasion we suggest you make your reservation sooner rather than later. On receiving your reservation you will be given the procedure to book rooms.
Ongoing news about the Gala, sponsors and other events in which the BDRHoF is involved is regularly published on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame web site at www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk, here on Eurodragster.com, and on Facebook and Twitter.
Web site updates.
6th June: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with two large galleries from the recent NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway. You can take a look at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.
Lass Vega trips over.
4th June: UK Modurstang Pro ET and Super Street racer Karen Stevens has been in touch about her two-car
crash at the top end during Super Street eliminations at last week's FIA/FIM Main Event:
The Main Event started well as Mike revealed my new paint scheme. I had no idea that he was doing this for me, so what a wonderful surprise. I arrived at the track to find it sitting there in all its glory. I had so many compliments over the weekend.
First run in qualifying and it was already starting with its tantrums, a pushrod and rocker issue and a oil leak from the crank seal on the timing cover. We managed to get it fixed and made the last qualifiers in both Super Street and Pro ET and got in the field.
Round 1 eliminations in Pro ET and I got lucky with my opponent pulling a red light, so through to round two. Ironically we faced Alan Medley in round two and managed to beat him. Then we got called for first round in Super Street where we faced Alan again.
All was going well and we felt that the car had found its rhythm again. I pulled a 0.006 reaction and ran a 10.93 on the 10.90 index with the brakes on over the finish line. Then for some unknown (at the moment) reason the car turned hard right and collected Alan. I bounced off and the car started to roll, four times we think, shedding all of its fibreglass panels. I came to a stop looking back towards the start line and saw the debris of my car everywhere. Somehow I was not badly injured and managed to get out of the car without help. The first thing on my mind was poor Alan. Distressed and upset, I needed to find out if Alan was OK. He fared better than me but his car was also badly damaged. I am so sorry Alan for hitting you.
I have had a very difficult week with concussion, headache and bad bruising. I have spent most of the week in bed in pain, but I feel very lucky that this was all I received. It could have been so much worse. The roll cage and safety equipment probably saved my life.
I firstly want to say thanks so much to the Santa Pod safety crew who were with me within seconds*, and to the medical team who were fantastic with the way they cared for me. I also want to say how perfect the track was all weekend. One thing's for sure, the track had nothing to do with my crash. I was so sorry to put Mike and all my drag racing family through the pain and worry they were all going through at the time. Finally, thanks to everyone who sent me well wishes this week. So many that we have struggled to keep up with replying to them all.
The Vega has unfortunately raced its final run. It is beyond saving and is shockingly badly damaged. This should be a wake-up call for anyone who feels that their car does not need a roll cage. Don't skimp on your safety as it's a small price to pay if you want to stay alive.
We will continue to race with Mike's car in Pro ET but I will be back to crewing duties for the foreseable future. See you all at the Summernationals and don't forget that it's Party in the Pits with our band Never The Agreed" again. I can't wait.
*Our video of the incident shows top end safety crew members moving within two seconds of Karen's car turning right, and the pick-up and ambulance both through the gate and on the track within twenty seconds of that right turn. That really is good going but, to be honest, no surprise at all to anyone familiar with SPR's safety and medical crews - Ed
Tierp Internationals coverage.
4th June: A subset of the Eurodragster.com team will shortly be departing from the UK for Sweden to bring
you all the news from the Tierp Internationals which takes place from Thursday to Sunday of this week (7th-10th).
Our coverage, which will be presented in association with John Woolfe Racing, will consist of the usual real-time reports and results throughout each day of the race, pit notes updated throughout each day, and a photo gallery at the end of each day courtesy of our good friends Lena Perés and Remco Scheelings. As is usual at Tierp Arena we will be using the popular split screen for our reports showing our commentaries on one side and results, courtesy of Time-Tree, on the other.
We will post a direct Home Page link to our coverage as soon as it commences, but in the meantime you can check out our Tierp Internationals coverage index, which includes a link to the official entry list, by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Saint Janne blesses Tierp.
3rd June: Pelle Lindelöw has been in touch with news of one of the many legends who will be at Tierp Arena this week to celebrate fifty years of drag racing in Sweden:
The first drag race following NHRA rules was arranged and organised at Anderstorp Raceway in August 1968 and named the "First Go".
But the first steps had already been taken a few years earlier by guys wanting to compete, and with influences from the States they
started racing anywhere they could find 402 metres of asphalt. Could have been on an airfield, but not always... By marking a
finish line with a chalk, and manual timing with stopwatches, they started a new movement.
One of the drivers from the early days is Jan "Janne" Carlsson from Stockholm who for the last twelve years has lived in the countryside outside Köping, two hours' drive west of Stockholm. There Janne found the perfect place to store his small, but very nice, collection of 1950s Fords. He raced several cars in the early years of Swedish drag racing and clearly remembers the First Go at Anderstorp.
"It was cool, especially for me, being crazy about cars", says Janne. "I got my first ride at the age of seventeen, a year before I got my driving license. In the early 1970s the TV show The Saint, with Simon Templar in his Volvo P1800, was extremely popular on Swedish television. Of course, the P1800 was well suited to become a Funny Car body of a Funny Car."
Janne's, co-owners and builders Böje Holmgren's and Leif "Leffe" Dahbäck's Volvo was named the The Saint after
the TV programme and became one of the most famous race cars at the time. Later that car was rebuilt and renamed Backfire. That
car met its destiny at Mantorp Park when Leffe had an accident and it was totalled. "There wasn't that much left of the car", says Janne, "maybe
the engine block could be used again but nothing else."
Janne says that a lot has happened in fifty years. "In 1968 there was no internet, information about the sport and the competitors was spread from one person to the next. A new grass-roots movement was emerging. Later it became more business-related when people with commercial skills entered the scene.
"In fifty years the racing has developed with cars today performing on a totally different level and with extremely powerful equipment. All of the information the crew need to fine-tune the car is recorded by an on-board computer which tells them everything which happened during the run. In the early days the driver tried to remember everything he felt happening during the run and reported to the mechanics as well as he could remember: if the car was pulling to the left or right, if it felt strong, pulled hard, nosed over at the end etc. We looked at the tyre marks on the strip, the colour of the spark plugs and all the other things which could tell us how the car was feeling."
"At the same time a lot is like it was before. Drag racing is about friendship, teamwork, excitement and that special atmosphere which still exists in
the sport. After all these years I still love the sport and will not miss an event at Tierp Arena for any reason."
Janne Carlsson is one of several veteran racers who will appear at Tierp Arena this week. Others honouring this event include Mr Six aka Dennis Priddle, Roland Larsson and Åke Ryman (Canon Funny Car), Anders Lantz (Dynapac altered and several Pro Comp entries), Tage Hammerman, Björn Andersson and the beautifully-restored (by Janne Johansson) Opel Manta Funny Car, and Leif Helander. You will also find lots of memorabilia from the early days of Swedish drag racing and films and pictures will be shown non-stop on a fifty inch screen.
The drag racing veterans will be in the Tent of Legends, close to the Top Fuel pits, all weekend and will be happy to sign autographs and to answer questions from visitors.
Exit the She Devil.
3rd June: UK Top Methanol Funny Car racers Steph and Dave Milam have announced that the She Devil team
have retired from racing:
It all started over thirty years ago with the A30, when it was just us and our friend Nigel on grip juice. Actually, I should have said that it started a few years earlier than that when someone told us that we needed to go to Santa Pod and see this great thing called drag racing, "You'll love it!". We did, and we caught the bug good and proper.
Things moved on when we got a dragster and Martin, who was twelve at the time, came on a couple of days out but we had problems both times. Later when he was older he came on as a full-time crew member and has been with us ever since, work permitting. Things really grew when the Funny Car arrived, with a bigger crew and an upscale of everything. The amount you need to go racing is incredible. If you haven't got a part or tool at one meeting will probably end up with two the next time you go.
Over the years we have been blessed with enthusiastic people who have wanted to join us and help out. This culminated with what we called the A Team and our first five-second run. The picture, taken with the help of Gary Kay, caught that moment and shows Nick, Denroy, Dan, Aaron, Martin, Toby (Thank You all), myself and Dave.
Another big Thank You to all of our sponsors, friends, members of the public and everyone who has been with us on the journey. It has been one hell of a ride.
On a more serious note there is lots for sale. The chassis and bodies have been sold already, but if there something you want or need then give us a call on 01892 661245.
It is a sad time, but although we have retired from racing that doesn't mean that you won't see us around (Great news - Ed).
Swift snippets.
3rd June: Wayne and Pam Hiscock asked us to say a big Thank You to Santa Pod Raceway's safety crew for getting to Wayne's Modurstang Pro ET Chevelle so promptly after its engine destroyed itself at the top end at the FIA/FIM Main Event. "Apologies for the clean-up and the down time caused", they say. "We are just really thankful that we had decided to fit diapers last year as we are sure that this helped prevent any further damage or oil spillage under the tyres. We hope to be back on the track again soon."
No news update yesterday as your News Editor was under the weather so we were unable to say a big Happy Birthday to our good friend and Eurodragster.com Team Nutritionist Syd McDonald. Hope you had a great day Syd.
The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (below left) came with no words. If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
Geoff Stilwell asked us to say a big Happy 80th Birthday to Mike Kuhl of Kuhl & Olson fame. "There is party for Mike in Long Beach today", says Geoff, "which over two hundred racers will be attending. Mike (above right) is seen standing behind the land speed car which I now own."
Many thanks to Mike Collins for sending us the usual preview of his column in the latest issue of Street Machine magazine, available if you are quick, plus bonus material exclusively for Eurodragster.com readers, especially those who like their Funny Cars. Click on the images above for the PDF downloads.
The Main Event, as a Package.
3rd June: UK Super Gas racer Simon Gough says that he and The Package had an excellent five days at
Santa Pod Raceway last week:
Although we only managed one test run on the Thursday we were very confident in what delay was needed for our first first run in qualifying. But down came the rain that night, a clean track and I forgot to put some more in the delay box so we ran a 9.88 in the first qualifier. We ran 9.91 in the second round, 9.9076 in the third round, and 9.9009 in the forth round. Pleased was an understatement! Now we had one more run to get the car in position. We managed to end up number one qualifier even though Dave Fulton matched our number 9.9009... first come first served.
We had a bye in the first round, excellent news as that gave us another test run and the more data we could collect the better. Over the last two runs we were noticing a pattern in our sixty foot times. We went through the Racepak to find our issues and whilst doing that we came across another problem. Both of the problems were down to one thing, the rear tyres were past their best. I was struggling to keep it straight in the burnout and we found that the tyres were producing more slip at start line. After an hour of discussion whether to go home and get the new set we decided to stay with what we had and put more in delay.
The next round was against Simon Fulton, wasn't looking forward to that. So into the burnout and pushed myself sideways,
excellent I thought "The tyres are proper shagged". So up to the line and into pre-stage, then stage, a little bump forward
then a huge red light came on, what a tw*t. Got back and viewed the Racepak and kicked my own arse, after my crew had
had their chance at kicking it.
The Main Event was over for The Package but we achieved number one qualifier, we went home with more data from the new track, and we learned a few more things that will help us at future events. So she's now in the workshop. New tyres, deep clean all over, oil change, set the lash, and let her sit there waiting for the Summernationals.
A massive thank you to all my sponsors and crew: Sharron, Bret, Debbie, Gary, Dick Koster, Jeff Bull, LAS Motorhomes, Racepak, Zelltec, Opie Oils, K&N Filters, Cadman Transport. Also a big huge congratulations to Santa Pod on the new track.
A big Thank You to Simon from Mrs Tog and I for carrying the Get Well message for Belle during the Main Event - Ed
Web site updates.
3rd June: Chris Eyre has been busy having updated two sites with FIA/FIM Main Event coverage. First up is a gallery
of Chris' general Main Event photographs which you can check out at
dbfphotography.jimdofree.com.
Nostalgia Funny Car fans should also check out Chris' update on his European Nostalgia Funny Cars site at
euronostalgiafunnycar.jimdo.com.
"I would like to thank Neil Dilkes for his fantastic video footage, Andy Marrs and the Santa Pod timing crew for the numbers, the
Eurodragster.com staff for all their amazing efforts (Thanks! You're welcome - Ed) and all the amazing Santa Pod people!", says
Chris.
Our good buddy Remco Scheelings has posted two FIA/FIM Main Event reports on the Autosport.nl web site. There is a race report which you can check out by clicking here and a report of "Other things I saw" which you can check out by clicking here. Don't worry if you can't read Dutch because, as ever, it is pretty clear what is being said and, as ever, Remco's pictures are great.
Also updating from the FIA/FIM Main Event is Paul Bryan whose shots you can find at www.flickr.com/gp/paulbryan_photopedia.
NitrOlympX entry open.
1st June: Many thanks to NitrOlympX Race Director Jerry Lackey for letting us know that entry forms are now available for the race at Hockenheim on 17th-19th August.
Forms are available on the Racers' Page at www.nitrolympx.de.
A reminder that entry is limited; totals can be found in Part 6 of the Official Invitation. Racers in Junior Dragster, Pro ET and Super Pro ET must submit two current time slips with their entry forms and also submit a bank transfer for their entry fee. Racers in all other Sportsman classes may also want to send two recent time slips in case other classes fill up earlier than expected.
Racers who have built or purchased a new race vehicle must also submit two time slips with their entry form as proof that the vehicle has been tested recently and that it can run respective numbers for the class being applied for.
We look forward to seeing all racers at the 2018 NitrOlympX.
SPRC Summernationals entry update.
1st June: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us Versions 1 and now 2 of the official entry list for the SPRC Summernationals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 30th June-1st July. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
The official closing date for SPRC Summernationals entry is next Friday (8th) after which entry, if accepted, may be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can find the official SPRC Summernationals entry forms on the Information link of the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
If you have any queries about SPRC Summernationals entry then please get in touch with Ian on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.
Editor's note: Still shagged out from the Main Event so we have a backlog of news with which we will catch up on tomorrow's (Saturday's) update. We always have room for more, of course; please send your updates to news@eurodragster.com.
Brian Glæsner.
31st May: We were sorry to hear from Job Heezen of the death of Brian Glæsner after a brave fight against cancer.
Brian was a Top Gas racer of some repute before becoming Crew Chief for mulitple Pro Stock Bike racer Fredrik Fredlund. Fredrik's record stands as a fitting tribute to Brian's skill.
Our deepest sympathies to Fredrik and to all of Brian's family and friends.
Those Main Event records in full.
31st May: If you were tuned in to our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored FIA/FIM Main Event coverage then you will know that a number of European and other records were broken. Now that he has had time to go through the timing data, timing guru and Honorary Eurodragster.com Staff Member Andy Marrs has been in touch with a full list of the records set at Santa Pod Raceway at the weekend:
European records
FIM Europe Top Fuel Bike speed: 250.55 mph, Rikard Gustafsson
FIM Europe Super Street Bike ET: 6.928 seconds, Steve Venables
European quickest and fastest side-by-sides
FIA Top Methanol ET: Timo Habermann 5.3012 secs v Dennis Habermann 5.3766 secs (Final)
FIA Top Methanol speed: Timo Habermann 267.34 mph v Dennis Habermann 269.88 mph (Final)
FIM Europe Top Fuel Bike ET: Filippos Papafilippou 6.0173 secs v Rikard Gustafsson 6.0277 secs (Final)
FIM Europe Top Fuel Bike speed: Filippos Papafilippou 227.82 mph v Rikard Gustafsson 240.32 mph (Final)
FIM Europe Supertwin Top Fuel ET: Marcus Christiansen 6.3371 secs v Ronny Aasen 6.4623 secs (E2)
FIM Europe Supertwin Top Fuel speed: Marcus Christiansen 212.10 mph v Ronny Aasen 228.92 mph (E2)
FIM Europe Super Street Bike ET: Steve Venables 6.9345 secs v Mogens Lund 7.0380 secs (Final)
FIM Europe Super Street Bike speed: Steve Venables 210.00 mph v Mogens Lund 210.81 mph (Final)
European quickest bump spots
FIA Pro Stock (four-car field): 6.7159 seconds
FIM Europe Pro Stock Bike (four-bike field): 7.5127 seconds
FIM Europe Super Street Bike: (sixteen-bike field): 7.6380 seconds
Santa Pod Raceway track records
Pro Modified ET: 5.8687 seconds, Micke Gullqvist
Top Fuel Bike speed: 250.55 mph, Rikard Gustafsson
Supertwin Top Fuel ET: 6.3371 seconds, Marcus Christiansen
Supertwin Top Fuel speed: 228.92 mph, Ronny Aasen
Super Street Bike speed: 214.82 mph, Steve Venables
You can find out more on our table of European Bests, compiled by Marrs, which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the European Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
We can't post a list of bests without paying tribute to Jet Dragster pilot Martin Hill who made several 300+ mph runs in the Fireforce 5 Jet Dragster including a 310.41 mph blast which kicked his Personal Best into next week and which consolidates his position as quickest and fastest Jet pilot outside North America... and he could hold his own with most of those in North America.
Thanks also to Marrs for passing us the official FIA/FIM Main Event timing data which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
FIA/FIM Main Event results.
29th May: Congratulations to the winners of the weekend's FIA/FIM Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway:
FIA Top Fuel Dragster: Stig Neergaard 4.2364/202.42 def. Anita Mäkelä 4.3981/199.38
FIA Top Methanol: Timo Habermann 5.3012/267.34 def. Dennis Habermann 5.3766/269.88
FIA Pro Modified: Micke Gullqvist 5.9048/246.71 def. Jimmy Ålund 6.8982/147.66
FIA Pro Stock: Stefan Ernryd 6.6031/207.21 def. Robin Norén 6.7035/207.06
Fuel Funny Car: Steve Ashdown 5.1110/155.32 bye, Kevin Kent no show
FIM Europe Top Fuel Bike: Filippos Papafilippou 6.0173/227.82 def. Rikard Gustafsson 6.0277/240.32
FIM Europe Supertwin: Hans Olav Olstad 6.8460/200.56 bye, Marcus Christiansen shut off
FIM Europe Pro Stock Bike: Maurice Bertrand 7.4551/174.41 def. Alex Hope 7.7893/138.63 DQ red
FIM Europe Super Street Bike: Steve Venables 6.9345/210.00 def. Mogens Lund 7.0380/210.81
FIM Europe Junior Drag Bike Cup: Liam Holgate (8.13) 10.4390/66.97 def. Blade Dummer (8.64) 8.6338/75.67 DQ b/o
Comp Eliminator: Andy Hone (7.90) 7.4738/180.69 def. Robin Orthodoxou (7.49) 7.7651/179.88
Gearhead Garage UK Super Pro ET: Nick Good (6.83) 6.8848/194.48 def. Dave Evans (8.04) 9.1321/100.14 DQ red
Modurstang Pro ET: Keith Herbert (9.52) 9.5316/137.27 def. Paul Brown (9.00) 9.1421/123.82
Super Comp: Tayler Letchford 8.9440/136.45 def. Stu Doignie 9.0069/152.17
Terry Gibbs Super Gas Shootout: Stu Doignie 9.9007/157.41 def. Jon Giles 12.9863/75.29
Super Street: Dave Cherrett 10.9161/86.53 def. Leigh Morris 10.8567/120.90 DQ b/o
Lucas Oil Junior Dragster: Kaitlan Deevey (8.75) 8.7689/70.78 def. Harry Redshaw (9.00) 9.0321/72.53
Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator: Martin Smith 7.8298/191.32 def. Nick Hale 9.8495/140.71
Two new European records were also set. Congratulations to:
FIM Europe Top Fuel Bike speed: 250.55 mph, Rikard Gustafsson
FIM Europe Super Street Bike ET: 6.928 seconds, Steve Venables
Rikard's 250+ mph passes and Filippos Papafilippou's 5.782-second Top Fuel Bike qualifying pass put them in the top few quickest and fastest TFB racers anywhere on the planet.
Congratulations also to Gearhead Garage Super Pro ET racer Brad Jackson and Modurstang Pro ET racer Bob Molden who won the Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award and the Eurodragster.com / Vitesse Labelling Products Perfect ET Award respectively. Both Awards have been reset to £50 for next month's SPRC Summernationals.
Many thanks toÅsa Kinnemar and Peder Eneroth for passing us the post-event standings in the FIA European Drag Racing Championships and FIM Europe Drag Bike Championships respectively. You can check out the European points on our OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page which you can reach by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored reports, results, pit notes and galleries by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Birgitte's Wish.
27th May: Norwegian Fuel Funny Car racer Birgitte Bremnes did a bit of commuting before coming back to Santa Pod to stay for the weekend.
"Jamie and I drove the Funny Car from Norway, dropped it off at the workshop and drove straight back home again", Birgitte told Eurodragster.com. "We have not really done much to the car over the winter. The biggest difference which people will notice is that we've increased our support for Make A Wish, giving the car a new wrap on which Make a Wish really stands out on the front. I love the new blue colour, and I hope that we will increase the awareness of the organisation and the great work they do.
"Last season was my first year in a Funny Car. It was a massive learning curve compared to anything I've driven before. We didn't get many runs due to the weather so I still have a lot to learn. I have a great team who are putting in a lot of effort for me to race, so hopefully I can pay them back this year by putting down some good numbers.
"We're really happy that Lucas Oil UK are still with us as a sponsor this year. They deliver the best oil for our race car! BDO Norway is also continuing as a sponsor and we would also like to welcome a new sponsor this year: Kongshem, who deliver sub-sea support. For more information check our their web site at www.kongshem.no.
FIA/FIM Main Event traffic alert.
23rd May: Neale Saunders of Santa Pod Raceway writes that if you are planning to attend the Main Event and if your usual route to Santa Pod takes you off of the M1 at junction 15 and then down the A45, you may well be used to taking a turning which leads you over Hardwater Crossing - two small hump-back bridges across the River Nene (map) - however this route is now closed due to an accident and is likely to remain so throughout the Bank Holiday weekend.
Your preferred route will now be to continue on the A45 to the Wellingborough turn off and then on to the A509 where you can pick up your original route. With the weather set fair it's likely to be a great weekend so please allow additional time for your journey if this closure affects your usual route.
Thanks to Stephen Billings who also alerted us to this - Ed
Time to forget 2017.
23rd May: 2017 was a disappointing year for Swedish Pro Stock Bike racer Kenneth Holmberg
but he and Gabriella "Gabbi" Nikolovska and Kent "Kenta" Carlsson have forgotten all about
that and are looking forward to the new season which takes in the FIM European Championship, the EDRS Pro Series,
and maybe a date in Denmark:
We have updated our two engines for this season and made pretty big changes to other components. As well as the faithful team we may have some well-known guest mechanics, who have had great success in Pro Stock, at some events. All of our sponsors have returned including our primary sponsor Swecomposite.
We are really looking forward to the wonderful atmosphere at Santa Pod as well as the new surface.
Habermanns look to repeat.
23rd May: Top Methanol Dragster racers Timo and Dennis Habermann say they are excited to see the concrete track at Santa Pod and that they can't wait to make some good runs to start to defend Timo's title and Dennis' runner-up.
"We plan to make all of the FIA rounds", they say. "We are going to use some new engine parts on Dennis' car and and we will be getting out our tuning set-ups from 2015 when we ran all the 5.2s. Our team remains the same and they are hot for 2018 as are our sponsors.
Our main sponsor is again Mitsuboshi Star Racer, the blower belt, along with Höfler Fenste, Autokrandienst Habermann, Tommy Werbung, Fuchs Lubricants and Exide Batteries. For 2018 we are proud to add Bergheimer Stahlhallen, a German company who construct steel buildings, as a new partner."
Calming the Storm.
23rd May: Lorcan Parnell says that the Storm Funny Bike team have had academic help with their plans for 2018 and that they plan to slow the bike down, sort of:
Storm has undergone a complete rebuild over the winter following our PB of 6.74/210.9 at the Straightliners event in October. A new billet cylinder block has been made and the cylinder head converted from "power rings" to a more conventional copper gasket.
The team is now supported by the University of Wales Trinity St David Motorsports Engineering Department in a project aimed at improving drag bike aerodynamics. CFD analysis of 3D scans is underway and as an interim measure the existing seat unit has been extended by some sixteen inches.
Overall gearing has been reduced by 7%, reducing top speed at 11, 000rpm from a rather optimistic 250 mph to 233 mph, with the intent of improving short times. Larger diameter clutch plates are on order from Bob Malloy (ex nitro Honda Funny Bike).
The bike has also been repainted in a new colour scheme. Our thanks go to turbo sponsors Owen Developments for their continued support.
We have never won a round in either FIM or ACU competition, so apart from improving our times that is our goal for this year.
7.5s or bust.
23rd May: Swiss Super Street Bike racer Sandro Haldimann has a clear target for 2018 but it is not the FIM Europe Championship:
During winter the whole bike was disassembled for normal repair work and inspections. We also changed the frame from the original
to short-necked, to lower the front of the bike so we also shortened the fork pipes. A new exhaust has been installed and has been
routed differently. From the electronic point of view, we have replaced our boost controller with an AMS 2000.
Testing in Switzerland is not possible so our first outing was the FIM race in Kunmadaras, Hungary, which went very well. We have reduced our PB from 7.834 to 7.71. Our goal for this season is to run into the 7.5s. This is our first priority, our Championship result is secondary.
We like to thank to each and everyone in our "12er-Club", which is our donation club made up of friends and family. Thank you also to all of the others who are there all the time when more hands are needed to help.
Our team members are Alexandra Kormann Crew Chief, Beat Binggeli Mechanic, Fabian Baumgartner 12-er Club organiser, Peter Lenzinger Marketing and PR. For more information please take a look at our web site at www.drtb.ch.
Granica returns from break.
23rd May: After sitting out 2017 for financial reasons German Super Street Bike racer Thomas Granica is back this season courtesy of sponsors Straßenreinigung Oberheiden and Turbo Total:
We have made big changes to the bike. We have a brand new clutch, a new head, and a new Garrett GTX Gen2 delivered by Turbo Total.
We had our first outing in Hungary where the first round of the FIM Europe Super Street Bike Championship took place. In the first round of qualifying we blew an oil line and sprayed the whole track with oil. But not only this, we did the whole run with no oil pressure. So we had to pull the engine after one run as it tried to spin a rod bearing. With the help of my awesome crew and fellow racers we had it back in the same day.
Back on it the next day to an easy 7.7. The next run was a 7.49 and I was over the moon as I did not expect to be so fast in that short time. So we were qualified ninth if seventeen by the end of the day. In eliminations we faced Christian Jasz of Hungary. He was slightly better than me in qualifying so we turned it up slightly but it was a tad too much so it wheelied in first gear and I had to back off, but hey that's racing. All in all it was a fantastic weekend for me. The Hungarian organisation really stepped up their game and did an awesome job.
For the upcoming races I will try to qualify in the top ten and to go as many rounds as possible. A new PB would be awesome.
The only really hard downer this year is that my Crew Chief and brother Peter can't follow us due to a illness which won't be cured in two weeks. We all miss him (Hear, hear, get well soon Peter).
Thanks to all my fellow racers and crew, to Simon Giordmaina for tuning the bike, and again to my sponsors Straßenreinigung Oberheiden and Turbo Total.
Bowe kept in ECU.
23rd May: UK Super Street Bike racer Garry Bowe has not changed much on his bike as he is still working
on a new Motec M130 ECU which was installed for last year's NitrOlmpX:
The bike went 7.0 on its second pass with the totally new set-up. For this year we have added a nitrous kit using a Wizards of NOS revo system, more for control than power. We made three runs at the Fast Show to test the set-up but went with a really soft setting due to the weather and ran a very surprising 7.5 then a 7.4, which is a credit to Brad at BTC Moto who has time and again proven that he is one of the best, it not the best tuner out there. We then turned it up and had bad spin.
We are not expecting to win the Championship this year as some of the other teams have already made the making the 3100 mile (for us) journey to Hungary. We just want to win races, go quicker than our 211.7 mph record, and run another six-second pass.
Thanks also to Trevor Langfield from Wizards of NOS for advice and to Seb at NLR Systems for his latest G Assisted Tuning System which we will be using to control the nitrous power. Thanks to our sponsors Fuchs Silkolene for what I believe to be the best oil on the market, NLR Systems, Wizards of NOS, Central Scanning, Cometic Gaskets, and to all the family for their support. And of course thanks to Eurodragster.com for the tirelesss reports and information (Thanks! You're welcome - Ed).
The Team 817 trio.
23rd May: Thomas Pettersson writes that Sweden's Team 817 will be fielding a Funny Bike and two Super Street Bikes in 2018:
During the off season we reviewed the Funny Bike to see where we had to update or upgrade. Our new engines are based upon Gator race cases and for this season we have built up two new cylinder heads, for this we would like to recognise our good friend and tough competitor Rikard Gustavsson at TH Engineering and thank him for a great job and and for a lot of help providing other parts at the eleventh hour. We would also like to thank GIK Turboteknink for providing brand new Garret turbochargers. We will continue with the Robinson gearbox. The frame remains the same as in previous seasons with a slight modification to the handlebars to improve the driving position.
Our goal for the Funny Bike is to improve upon our PB 6.83 from last year and to establish consistency with the bike. We also hope to be strong and competitive in the Top Fuel field and to give the nitro riders a good fight.
Team 817 is entering the Main Event with myself TFB 817, Robert Häggblom SSB 817, and we are proud to welcome a third rider in the team: Mikael Ölen SSB 917 has decided to step up from Super Gas Bike and during the winter has built a new engine for his Hayabusa. TEAM 817 has signed up both for the European Championships and EDRS Pro this season. Our schedule is:
25-28/5 Santa Pod, England
7-10/6 Tierp Arena, Sweden
28/6-1/7 Alastaro, Finland
26-29/7 Gardemoen, Norway
17-19/8 Hockenheim, Germany
23-26/8 Tierp Arena, Sweden
31/8-1/9 Mosten, Denmark
6-9/9 Santa Pod, England
We would like to thank our partners and sponsors who have made this possible: Moped Garage, Inseco, Söderhamns Stuveri & Hamn, Algolan AB, Stonetown Custom, Solings, Genuine Swede, Hydroscand, GIK Turboteknik, DIBA, and many more. The list can continue for ever.
New for this season is also that we have our own photographer with us. Laurence LCR Richt has joined us to document the season with photo and video coverage.
The entire team has worked very hard to prepare for the upcoming season and really looking forward to laying some rubber and burning some fuel.
Zodiac plan an end to the drama.
23rd May: Norwegian Supertwin racer Ronny Aasen says that his journey with The Netherlands' Ton and Vincent Pels has been both fun and exciting, as the Zodiac team always try to think ahead and always work hard:
There have been a few ups and downs over the last two years, but that's racing. Hopefully this season will give us some more track time, so more data to make the bike fast and reliable. As always I am very much looking forward to getting in the saddle again at one of the coolest places for drag racing in Europe... Santa Pod Raceway!
Obviously we have been looking at the valve train issues which we have had with the Zodiac-sponsored supercharged Top Fuel Harley-Davidson. At this moment we are finalising the last parts of the valvetrain components. New cams from S&S Cycle with a re-designed profile, new lifters (aka cam followers or tappets) from Jesel, which we modify to make them adjustable, new valve springs from Kibblewhite Precision Machining with a higher seat and peak pressure to keep the valve train under control better, new double ceramic crank bearing set-up on both the output shaft and the pinion shaft which should give more strength and enable us to run the super-slick SAE 70 Spectro Oil. We have more spares so that we can build two complete engines and have spare parts ready in the trailer.
Last year was one of our most disappointing race seasons ever and obviously we want to come back stronger. The new cam galley which we developed in 2017 should have been the cure for a lot of issues we had with our 1000+ HP V-Twin engine, but it gave us some hiccups which ended in a very dramatic (and expensive) engine failure at the Main Event, and again issues which stopped us from continuing the race season last August at the NitrOlympx in Hockenheim Germany. Looking at all the damage we could only trace it back to lifter failure, but on a nitromethane engine the damage is often catastrophic when something in the valve train lets go. The amount of fuel going into the engine needs to be able to get out, or a fuel lock is inevitable. Hopefully this season will be better.
We are not planning to run records at the moment, but we want to have a quick and reliable bike to win races and ultimately Championships. Last time we held the big FIM Europe cup in our hands was 2013, and that feels like too long ago!
This year we will have a new crew member on the team. Thomas, a friend and colleague of mine, will help us out to speed up the between-round maintenance so we have more time to analyse the data and set up the bike.
Zodiac Racing is proudly sponsored by Zodiac International BV, Spectro Oils of America, Kibblewhite Precision Machining Inc and S&S Cycle Inc.
FIA/FIM Main Event snippets.
23rd May: Robin Orthodoxou and the Chaos Bros Racing Team asked us to say a big Thank You to fellow Comp Eliminator racer Kev Perkins for sharing speed secrets before this weekend's race. "We now feel ready to take on the growing number of diverse racers in Competition Eliminator at the Main Event", says Robin. "Having attended the Doorslammers meeting I was astonished at the performances in the 4 Cylinder and riceburner classes. As expected the Santa Pod crew did a great job all weekend, they are often taken for granted but can be relied on when things get hot."
Stuart Crane's Pro Mod Bike has been through major surgery before all three Warpspeed Racing bikes contest the entire FIM tour. "It was stripped back to the bare chassis for a total rebuild after the fire and engine blow-up", he says. "We fitted the newly-freshened spare motor as we haven't tested it so want to start the season with it. We have also had new bodywork made which moves the tank forward three inches, and a new nose cone which should help more with the aerodynamics as it passes the air past my hands and allows me to get further towards gettign my chin on the tank. There has been other lightening work and we are testing a clear rocker cover which allows us to keep an eye on the valve train between rounds. Many thanks to my MPM Oil UK and Warpspeed Racing."
Swift snippets.
23rd May: Sand Drags racer Sebastian Lindau writes that entry is open for the Obersaxen bike-only off-road drag race. "This event takes place right the middle of the beautiful Alps", says Sebastian. "It's still possible to sign up but interested parties need to be quick - the number of racers is limited to 100 and 92 racers are already confirmed. So take your chance and get your blast. The entry form is available at www.offroaddragrace-gr.ch. If you have any questions then feel free to ask either at info@sanddragracing.de or at info@offroaddragrace-gr.ch."
Many thanks to Andy Marrs for passing us the official Doorslammers timing data. You can check it out by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
European Top Gas Round 1 review.
23rd May: Many thanks to Herman Jolink for forwarding us a report of last weekend's first round of
the European Top Gas Series at Malmö Raceway:
We had two days of sunny weather, the track was very well-prepared for some fast cars and there were spectators in the stands.
Final qualifying:
- Jan Malmberg SE on 2600 two Blower V-Twin 4.910/221 kmh, Jan made runs of 5.2 and 5.1 and then the 4.9.
- Anders Jensen DK on 2000 home-made mechanical turbo V-Twin 5.204/204, a new PB for the Jensen team with a very good sixty foot time of 1.159.
- Jorg Lymant D on 2622 V-Twin 5.599/227, some problems finding the right set-up.
- Peter Niklas D on Turbo 1000 SP Honda 6.116/194 in the last session also with some set-up problems.
- Sven -Ole Schleichert D on H-D V Rod Destroyer 6.166/181.
- Martin Buhler CH on home-made 1600 mechanical turbo V-Twin 7.550/137.
E1: Buhler bye run as Malmberg's bike did not start; Jensen 5.780/157 kmh def. Schleichert 6.266/175 - at 150 metres Jensen's head gasket blew; Lymant 6.130/170 def. Niklas 7.917/185, both riders had problems.
E2: Buhler 9.391/73 bye; Lymant 6.500/163 bye as Jensen broke.
Final: Lymant 4.788/232 def. Buhler 11.926/51.
European Super Twin Top Gas Championship:
- Jorg Lymant D 685
- Martin Buhler CH 530
- Anders Jensen DK 470
- Jan Malmberg SE 380
- Peter Niklas D 350
- Sven-Ole Schleichert D 340
- Mats Larsson SE 300
Bad Sobernheim welcomes the Juniors.
22nd May: Graham McDonald writes that Phoenix Raceway at Bad Sobernheim in Germany was the venue for the second round of the Junior Internationals, organised to bring together European Junior Dragster racers into one series, and that Frankie Fordham and Liam McDonald successfully represented the UK and Eire respectively:
Initially Kaitlan Deevey was meant to travel with us but unfortunately her engine gave her trouble and after switching engines her clutch blew up, so it was down to Frankie
and Liam to take on Europe's finest on the new track. The track was unprepared but with an anti-skid surface as you would see before a roundabout or before traffic lights.
Initially we wondered how the quicker Juniors would react on this kind of surface, but the track proved to be ideal with no wheelspin that I observed. Plans are afoot to
resurface for the faster Pro cars but at the moment it can handle cars and bikes down to nine seconds. The track is I believe seventy metres wide by three kilometres long
so there is more than enough room to stop the bigger cars with ease when they upgrade the track.
We encountered a wonderful atmosphere at the track and from the people there - it reminded us of the relaxed feeling which we all loved at Shakespeare County Raceway. The event was very professionally-run, and if your first qualifying run was at say 10:00 am then your next and further qualifiers were on the hour for the rest of the day so you knew when to be ready. Frankie qualified top and Liam second and both went through to the final which Frankie won.
So not bad for first time out there with nine Juniors from various countries including England, Ireland, France, Holland and Germany.Hopefully next year we will have more Junior drivers and more countries involved. So a big thumbs-up to the 1 on 1 Motorsports Club in Germany for organising a very professionally-run event and to Kalunki for organising the Junior International Series in Europe. We will definitely be back again.
Ernryd cleans off the rust.
22nd May: After final-round appearances at every event and runner-up spot in the FIA European Championships in 2018, Swedish
Pro Stock racer Stefan Ernryd is aiming to maintain his momentum in 2018:
Over winter we serviced our two engines at Roy Jonson's shop in Tennessee. A few other adjustments has been made to the car as well as repairs after the Hockenheim incident. We are confident that we have a winning combination with a good car and and a strong team, which is the same as last year.
We will contest the full season and our goals are to win the Championship and to set a few records! We tested Malmö last weekend and most of the winter rust is gone from both driver and team. We will test at Santa Pod on Thursday to break in new tyres and to get a feel for the new track.
New for 2018 is a new design in another classical Dodge colour. This year we chose Plum Crazy, with the Hemi billboar?d on the side. Ernrydcars, one of the longest-established car importers in Sweden, is our main sponsor for 2018. Ernrydcars sell new Dodges, Rams, Fords and Chevrolets.
It shall be a great pleasure to meet all of our fans around Europe and the premiere of Santa Pod's new track is very exciting! See you at the weekend.
Margot's busy schedule.
22nd May: The Netherlands' Margot Schmidt is planning to contest three FIM Europe Super Street Bike rounds in 2018 as well as some National Championship rounds:
We made some major changes to the bike during the winter. We replaced the eriginal ECU for a standalone unit from Linq. We also placed a boost controller on the
bike so that we will be able to make much more power then we had last season. We also made some major changes on the engine: new rods, pistons, bigger injectors,
and a billet fuel rail. To protect the engine case we have added an output shaft support. Major thanks to Orient Express Racing for the amazing fast and great service.
After all the adjustments the bike went on the dyno and recorded 400+ hp. We tested at Santa Pod in March. Due to a technical issue the bike went pretty much airborne on the first run. I managed to stay on the bike but suffered a few broken ribs when the bike came down. Thankfully I am fully healed.
We will be testing at the Peak Performance Day on Thursday to fine-tune the bike further. Our schedule for this season is quite busy, after the Peak Performance Day and Festival of Power in March / April our calendar is:
25th-28th May: FIA/FIM Main Event, Santa Pod Raceway
30th June-1st July: SPRC Summernationals, Santa Pod Raceway
28th-29th July: ATD, Clastres
17th-19th August: NitrOlympX, Hockenheim
6th-9th September: FIA/FIM European Finals, Santa Pod Raceway
6th-7th October: UK National Finals, Santa Pod Raceway
I would like to thank our sponsors who make all of this possible: Ad van Gils Motors, Oriënt Express Racing, Jennes Motorsports and Dolfo Tuning. Also a huge Thank You to my husband and Crew Chief and husband, I would never be able to do what I love the most without all his of help, support and patience!
Picture courtesy and ©Blackett Photography
Larsson rates his chances.
22nd May: Swedish Top Methanol Funny Car racer Micke Larsson is excited about 2018 including his first visit to Santa Pod Raceway this weekend:
Since last season we have built a new engine with our good friends Post en Dros. The new engine has a little higher compression ratio and heads from Jonnie Lindberg. The old engine will be our spare after repairs at Post en Dros. We haven't tested, so the Main Event will be our first race this year.
We are going for all of the Championship rounds this year and we think we have a good chance.
My fantastic team is Ed Crew Chief and tuner, Daniel and Evelina engine mechanics, Roy the diver, Bengt is our clutch man, and Liza and Lill take care of photography, social media and hospitality. Our fine sponsors who make this possible are DynaMate, Facom, Q8 Oils, Europafilter, Karmaseal, Kranbolaget, Hydroscand, Alderholmens Mekaniska, Ljusmontage, Gula Maskiner, Milenko Mekaniska, Tälf & Fest, Air Liquide and Hemköp.
Abraham: Speed and trophies.
22nd May: French Pro Stock Bike racer Charly Abraham is headed for Santa Pod Raceway having finished preparing the Parts Europe Buell last Thursday:
Last year was my first with the Buell in FIM Pro Stock Bike. It was a practice year, I learned what I must do and also what not to do!
Over the off-season I rebuilt the complete engine, but there are no modifications or updates. We will make some passes during the Pro Peak Performance Test and Tune on Thursday to break in the engine before the Main Event.
We plan to race the whole FIM season this year and the targets are simple: continue to learn, go faster, and why not get the trophy!
I would like to say a special Thank You to the Parts Europe team, you rock! Without you it wouldn't be possible. Also Thank You to Silkolene Oil and S&S Cycle for their support and a huge Thank You to the Star Racing team who help me more and more. Thank you Jackie and George! I'm proud to be a part of your adventure.
FIA/FIM Main Event snippets.
22nd May: Swedish Pro Stock racer Robin Norén and team have upgraded their GTO with new and upgraded struts front and rear and a new motor built and delivered by Gray Motorsports. Testing at Malmö was a struggle finding a tune-up for the new motor but the team are looking forward to a full season of FIA Championship rounds. The team's main sponsors this year are Westers Group and Westers Mark and Transport without whom none of this would be possible.
UK Super Street Bike racer Pete Field says that the main additions to the OBP-sponsored bike are a new full
BTC Moto race wiring loom and the latest version of the AMS 2000 boost controller with Gats enabled to help fine-tune
the bike. "We had a few issues last year", says Pete. "Out early at Hockenheim due to a fuel pump failure, and at the
following round we torched the head as we didn't realise that two injectors were partially blocked so it ran very lean.
We haven't tested so far with Easter being a washout but we are confident for the Main Event and the rest of the year.
Hopefully this will be our year to run a six, if not then a very low 7.0. Our sponsor OBP are continuing their support
as they have for a number of years, and our other sponsor is Route 21 Leathers."
Maltese Super Street Bike racer Franklyn Borg overcame a dangerous journey and what looked like an early end to his Championship hopes after a mishap shipping the bike to Kunmadaras for round one of the FIM Championship. But after sixty hours' travel including two ferries and thirty hours' driving the team made it to Hungary only a day late. "With only two shots at qualifying we started with a 7.1 off the trailer", says Franklyn. "On race day we lost in the semis to current Champ Rick Stubbins. Hopefully we'll get some better luck overall from here on. We can't wait to hit the new track at Santa Pod."
Fellow Maltese racer Glenn Borg is excited to be racing his Funny Bike again. "We have been in the sixes since the early days", he says. "This bike was purchased in 2015, but we always struggled to find consistency. After testing and changing several different set-ups we are now managing to be more consistent thanks to a new fuel system we implemented, giving us more control. Testing over the winter looked very promising as we ran no less then nine six-second passes in Malta. Coming all the way from Malta is very difficult for us and this tour wouldn't be possible without my hard-working team, Racetech by Tzanidakis and Race by Togias for the bike preparation, Gabriel Briffa for all the series logistics and parts preparation, and main sponsors Glenn's Highway Auto and Belula Garage Malta."
Swift snippets.
22nd May: On behalf of Nitrous Junkie HQ Lizz Charman asked us to say a big
Happy Birthday for today (Tuesday) to Jake Charman. Our pleasure, have a great day Jake.Editor's note.
21st May: Thanks to those who have been in touch to express concern about Your News Editor's domestic emergency over the weekend. The emergency concerned one of the family dogs who has had to have major surgery today (Monday), but she has come through it OK so far.
We have a large number of Main Event previews to post here on the News page; they will be posted but because of the situation with Belle the greyhound the coding sessions may have to be spread, so there may be more than one news update each day. This does however mean that you can get yourselves some practice for the coming weekend by hitting Refresh on the News page every so often.
Everything submitted will be posted in time for the race .
Terry Gibbs Super Gas sponsors.
21st May: Jon Giles writes that the list of sponsors has been finalised for the 2018 Terry Gibbs Super Gas Shootout:
We would like to thank the following for supporting Super Gas in the UK in 2018: Mario's Hairdressers, OCS Group, Bob Hopper Plumbing, Layer 2, Unity AV, Kmor Contract Limited, R Douse of Snap-On Tools, Premier Automation, Rooster Racing Equipment, J Turner Upholstery, Lucas Oil Products, Albert Carter Racing, Fantoni Solutions Limited, CM Frost, Paul Foote Ink (PFI), Tim Lane Decorators, GKW Wrought Iron and OCEE Design (Northampton).
There will be cash prizes for number one qualifier and for first to fourth places. The total will be announced this Thursday (24th). We believe that, as the successful Doorslammers meeting has proven, if you add a little financial incentive it really does make the event that more appealing to all concerned. Hopefully everyone will back the cars and the teams in trying to excite the crowd and win to fund their passion.
Good luck to all racers and crews at the Main Event.
Curbishley gets another Fix.
21st May: UK Super Comp racer Martin Curbishley would again like to welcome Fix Auto Penzance as his main sponsor for this weekend's FIA/FIM Main Event, where he will be driving the dragster owned by Paul Marston Racing.
Stuart Cameron, Managing Director of Fix Auto Penzance, says "We are excited to renew our sponsorship and advertising link with Martin and Paul Marston Racing. It really is the perfect platform to get the company name out there. I couldn't believe the amount of spectators at last year's FIA European Finals, which I attended.
"We are about to embark on a major expansion programme at Fix Auto Penzance, which will almost double the size of our operation, so the advertising aspect of the sponsorship is vital. We have a strong customer base in Cornwall and were delighted to win two major awards last year, Body Shop magazine Body Shop of the Year and Fix Autos' Outstanding Customer Service Award.
"I will be attending the Main Event with several key members of staff. I would like to say Good luck to Martin and the other members of Paul Marston Racing."
FIA/FIM Main Event snippets.
21st May: Top Methanol Funny Car owner and tuner Danny Bellio says that Danny's Racing Team Belgium, who sponsor Eurodragster.com through Dyno Unlimited, are almost ready to go with their FC, driven by Sandro Bellio. "We are looking forward to discover the advantage that the concrete will offer over the old track", says Danny. "We haven't changed much on the set-up from last year, just updated the clutch and fuel system. Thanks to our sponsors Danny Cars, Dyno Unlimited, Molinari Racing Clutches and Evchargeking."
Super Street Bike racer Jemma Venables now sports a Motec M1 ECU with integrated boost controller with the aim of more consistency this season. After sacrificing the 2017 Championship to develop his bike Steve Venables shipped it to the USA to race in November 2017 and ran a best of 6.94. Steve hopes for performance gains and consistency this year. Jemma and Steve are pleased to receive continued support from DME Racing, Owen Developments, Suzuki GB, Protec Fuel Systems, Cometic Gaskets and Nimbus Motorsports.
Top Methanol Dragster racer Jonny Lagg will be contesting the Main Event with his spare motor due to a cracked crank. "There is a long delivery time", he says. "Other than this we have done minor chassis work and we will be trying a new tyre combination. "We have the same old farts in the team."
Reigning FIM European Supertwin Champion Martijn de Haas says that the team have not changed a lot on the bike and are focusing on the clutch this season. "As the competition is steep with nine entries we realise that we have to improve our sixty foot times", he says. "Our bike is strong at the top end so we mainly are focusing on the start. We are very happy to welcome some new riders and to be racing Hans Olav Olstad this year."
Race car insurance on offer.
21st May: Wayne Jackson writes that through his work as UK agent for HRX
Racewear he has been introduced to Sports Insure, who insure all aspects of sport including a wide variety of motorsport from track day cars to cars competing in the 24 Hour Race
of Le Mans. Wayne has been working with Sports Insure for eight months to introduce an affordable and sensible pricing structure for drag racing and says that you will be able to find
out all about it at Santa Pod Raceway this weekend:
This project is almost complete, the documentation with the underwriters for signing off. Jason Leach from Sports insure will be with Brad and I on Saturday. Because of the complexity of some cars and bikes Sports Insure will tailor a package to suit all levels of drag racing, so we look forward to seeing some racers for a chat. We will welcome any racer who wishes to speak with Jason regarding insurance for their car.
The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed the Sports Insure logo on Brad's car at Autosport International and at the Festival of Power!
FIA/FIM Main Event Perfect Awards.
21st May: This week's FIA/FIM Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway is the second event in the 2018 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards Scheme. £125 will be on offer for perfect performance.
The Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been increased to £75 after it went unclaimed at
the Festival of Power. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer to record a Reaction Time of
0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award will be available to racers in all classes during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded
for the first Perfect Light of the event. If not won then the Award will be increased to £100 for the SPRC Summernationals; if it is won
then it will be reset to £50 for the SPRC Summernationals. The Perfect ET Award is presented in association with Cath and Tig Napier of
Modurstang Pro ET team Bad Habit Racing.
Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com decals will be available in the Signing On office or from the Eurodragster.com office in Race Control (entry via Spectator Bank side stairs only).
The inaugural Eurodragster.com / Vitesse Labelling Products Perfect ET Award starts at £50 and will be awarded in cash to the first
racer at this weekend's event to run to 0.000 on index or dial-in. The Perfect ET Award will be available this weekend in Gearhead Garage
UK Super Pro ET, Modurstang Pro ET, Super Comp, Terry Gibbs Super Gas Shootout, Super Street, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster (eliminations only)
and FIM Europe Junior Drag Bike Cup, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect ET of the event. If not won then the Award will be increased to
£100 for the SPRC Summernationals; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the SPRC Summernationals.
To be eligible to win the Award, decals (right) must be carried, clearly visible, one on each side of the vehicle. If a Perfect ET is recorded without decals then there will be no argument, we will not pay out and the money will be awarded to the next racer to record a Perfect ET. Decals will be available in Signing On from this Thursday.
For more information about the services which Vitesse Labelling Products can provide please see Al Platt in the Modurstang Pro ET pits or visit www.vitesse-labelling.co.uk.
Web site updates.
21st May: Keith Lee has been in touch to let us know that his Blog detailing the progress of his book Mister Six: The Story of Drag Racing Legend Dennis Priddle has been updated on Alan Currans' excellent Acceleration Archive. The book is scheduled to be released in the latter part of this year but in the meantime you can read Keith's Blog at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk.
Our good friends Julie and Steve Moxley have had their March Meet report and pictures posted on the Eat My Ink web site at www.eatmyink.com.
Paul Bryan has posted Doorslammers pictures on his Flickr page at www.flickr.com/photos/paulbryan_photopedia and on Facebook.
Also updating a Flickr album is The Mad Welshman whose No Prep Nationals pictures you can check out at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.
Doorslammers results.
20th May: Congratulations to the winners of this weekend's Doorslammers at Santa Pod Raceway:
VP Racing Fuels Pro Doorslammer: Jimmy Ålund 6.5680/227.00 def. Marcus Hilt 6.6410/208.96
OCS Group Big Bracket 1 (yesterday): Collin Morrice (8.64) 10.3061/83.93 def. Billy Gane (8.28) 8.2605/166.03 DQ red light
OCS Group Big Bracket 2 (today): Lee Huxley (9.54) 9.6049/136.47 def. Jens Könnecke (8.25) 8.2721/161.87
Lucas Oil Pro Street: Mark Todd 7.9173/193.74 def. Joe Stevens 8.3655/168.55
Turbo Technics True Street: Mark Biggers 9.3864/148.09 def. Gary Carr 9.8041/146.23
Spal Automotive Front Wheel Drive: Stephen Ray 10.8636/129.41 def. Adrian Solly 12.5231/118.08
Webster Race Engineering 4 Cylinder: Chris Todd 10.0182/143.92 def. John Martin 10.1549/139.88
EBC Brakes 6 Cylinder: Mark Moseley 8.8387/157.99 def. Justin Muscat staged
You can check out our Doorslammers reports, pit notes and pictures by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
FIA/FIM Main Event racer update.
17th May: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us details of the arrangements for next week's FIA/FIM Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway:
Thursday 24th May
08:00 Gates open for the duration of the event
10:00 Signing On office opens
10:00 Car scrutineering commences, no specific order
20:00 Signing On office closes
Friday 25th May
07:00 Signing On office opens
07:00 Car scrutineering commences 09:00 Bike scrutineering commences: Bike sign-on / scrutineering details
09:30 Track opens for qualifying
Saturday 26th May
07:00 Signing On office opens
07:00 Scrutineering opens
- Pro car sign-on / scrutineering details
- Sportsman car sign-on / scrutineering details
- Bike sign-on / scrutineering details
Sunday 27th May
08:00 Signing On office opens
08:00 Scrutineering opens
09:30 Track opens for eliminations
Monday 28th May
09:30 Track opens for eliminations
The provisional running orders are now available and can be checked out by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please note as ever that running orders are subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials.
No race vehicle motors are to be fired up before 09:00 or after 21:00 on any day of the event including Thursday's Peak Performance Day. Before 09:00 vehicles should be pushed or towed to Scrutineering, not driven or ridden. Non-observation of curfew will result in exclusion from the event.
Junior racers please remember the rule about pushing vehicles back to the pits once through the arch beside Scrutineering.
Only race officials and SPR staff are allowed in Race Control whilst racing is underway. Should racers wish to raise any matter with race officials then please do not visit Race Control; please firstly see the Race Secretary who is based in Signing On.
Colour commentators are requested to come to Commentary only when their class is at the head of the lanes, to vacate Commentary as soon as their class has run, and not to bring guests to Commentary with them.
At the request of SPR management the Eurodragster.com office at the Bankside end of Race Control is similarly out of bounds during racing except to Eurodragster.com staff, Zeon TV crew and racers or crew collecting Eurodragster.com Perfect Award money.
Sweden celebrates 50 years.
16th May: Pelle Lindelöw writes that organised drag racing in Sweden reaches its fiftieth anniversary this year and that plenty is being done to celebrate the quarter-milestone:
In 1966 Calle Hansen, together with a bunch of fans of American cars and V8s, started up the Drag Racing Club and some events were held. Manual timekeeping with stopwatches, illegal racing on motorways under construction, wherever 402.33 metres (the exact measure of a quarter mile) could be found. They were always looking at what was happening in the UK and of course in the States and copied as much as possible.
In 1968 it was time for the premiere of organised drag racing in Sweden. Anderstorp was at the time the only fully-equipped race track which could handle the cars. The race was called the "First Go" and it took place in August.
A number of big names from UK were invited among whom were Rex Sluggett, Clive Skilton and their teams. For Swedish spectators and officials it was their very first time hearing and smelling the exhaust of nitro engines. Unfortunately Rex injured his foot and a certain guy by the name of Dennis Priddle stepped in as a replacement. And the rest is history...
To be able to honour the people who actually put Sweden on the drag racing map I have accepted a role as Co-ordinator for two of the celebrations this year, those at the two European Championship events at Tierp Arena.
In three weeks from now, at the Tierp Internationals on 8th-10th June, we will hold the first half of the celebration of the first fifty years of drag racing in Sweden and honour the people who built the sport for us. We will have a two hundred square metre marquee with lots to see. Three of the beautiful Funny Cars from Janne Johansson's collection, his wonderful Peterbilt tractor-puller and his no less wonderful trailer, motors from different decades, and films and posters, etc from the early days of Swedish drag racing.
But what would drag racing be without the people who were there from day one? I'm extremely happy to announce that the King of Anderstorp '68, Dennis Priddle, will attend all three days in June. We will also host veteran racers from the early days of Swedish dragracing. Some of the names will be familiar to fans around Europe and the UK, but of course there will also be some well-known local names. It's a great honour for me, as a rookie of the early '70s, to be able to meet my idols from the past.
Some of our heroes are unfortunately no longer with us, but I'm sure that everyone visiting us in the Tent of Legends in June and August will get a flavour of the warm and friendly feeling which we all had in the early days. And if that isn't enough we can surely surely share a couple of good laughs from those days, I know that there are tons of funny stories out there...
See you at Tierp in June!
Gullqvist eyes the Wulcano.
16th May: Multiple FIA European Pro Modified Champion Micke Gullqvist is headed to Santa Pod Raceway for this weekend's Doorslammers, a race which he says will be an odd one for the team since they have not raced no-rules since the 1990s:
A big challenge is of course that we have the first round of the FIA Championship coming up next weekend. A supercharged Pro Mod car is a highly-restricted racing vehicle. We have restrictions on valve sizes, electronics (no traction control), no lock up clutch or converter, supercharger type and design, overdrive and minimum weight. The reason for those rules has been to protect the nitrous cars so they are able to compete with the blown cars. Looking at the entry list for the Doorslammers, I see thirteen entries designed for Pro Mod racing and one entry which has everything we're not allowed to use on a Pro Mod car.
That one-off car is Mathias Wulcan's '69 Camaro, which is purpose-built for no-rules doorslammer racing. That car is actually the only "correct" car for an event like this, and in theory they could be cruising to win the event. In a way it feels good to not be one of the favorites to win, as we really should not have a chance. Those cars normally run over the eighth mile, but a few have tested their performance over the quarter mile and ran in the 5.4s. I believe the record for those kind of cars is around 5.45 over the quarter mile, whilst world class performance for a Pro Mod car would be in the low 5.7s. An FIA Pro Mod has more weight than NHRA, but 3.5% more overdrive, so it's very hard to compare with them.
For us it will be a good test session for the Main Event and who knows, maybe we could even go a few rounds on Sunday. See you at the track!
Lucas with your Sprout.
16th May: Just in time for next week's round of the FIM Europe Super Street Bike
Championship at the FIA/FIM Main Event, UK Super Street Bike racer Steve Mead is pleased to announce
that Les Downey of Lucas Oil Products UK has
confirmed continued sponsorship in 2018. Steve also has some good news on the tuning front:
Lucas Oil Products have been a huge support to me for more than five years now, supplying me with a huge range of products. I also have Walter Sprout tuning for me again this year. He is also tuning for various racers over the Pond and in Europe and the UK. I think that most people know he's been behind Mogens Lund's very quick bike for a while now.
I'll be looking to improve on last year's 7.28 PB in what is getting a tougher Super Street Bike field at every event!
Guy's perfect start.
16th May: Jemma Bromley writes that Jedd Guy's victory in Outlaw Anglia at the weekend's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals was the perfect start to a season which nearly didn't happen:
After a tough winter with financial struggles the 2018 season was nearly over before it had even begun. Some cutbacks
were made, plenty of overtime was worked, and things started to pick up and look brighter for this season... even if we
have now got a wedding to plan!
The excitement of being back on our feet was short-lived once Big Bang was cancelled and added a month to the wait when the team was already itching to get back to the track. However, this was definitely in the best interests of the whole drag racing community as there was some much needed sun in that gap!
Around came Nostalgia Nationals and the nervous excitement started to build about racing on a new track for the first time, especially as Jedd felt like he hadn't driven the car in a lifetime, a bit dramatic I know. All the nerves quickly vanished once he was in the burnout box about to do the biggest burnout we've had in a while.
On to qualifying and we took it easy to get a feel for the track. This then gave Jedd the determination to get a seven-second pass on the new track and our first event of the year. Alas it wasn't to be! We had an 8.01 which bagged us the top qualifying spot and the NSRA Quickest Outlaw Anglia ET Award.
Eliminations on Sunday and we had a bye in the first round, followed by a very lively race with Gary Bird in which we both
experienced traction issues but we took the win. After Gary we faced Mick Taylor and then into the finals with Steve Wells.
This was set to be a close race as Steve had been running quite consistent 8.4s all weekend and, as always, was wired to
the Tree. We made a few changes to the car to make the wheelies smaller and to add more control to get it down the track
straighter.
All in all this seemed to help as we ran an 8.2 against Steve's 8.7, however the race had already been won on the start line as Steve went red. We came home with the event win putting our season off to a perfect start! The celebrations were certainly added to by the fact that it was Scott Crookston's début event with the sister car (Jedd Guy chassis). Scott ran a PB of 8.53, got second qualifying spot, and got to the semi-finals!
Thanks to everyone at Santa Pod Raceway and theh NSRA for putting the event on, and thanks to the Outlaw Anglia class for being the usual bunch of loonies! Last but not least thanks to Jeff Bull for building a fantastic "street" engine which has far surpassed anyone's expectations. Can't wait to see what he builds next... wink wink.
Web site updates.
16th May: Paul Bryan has been busy recently updating his Flickr site with pictures from the No Prep Nationals, which you can check out by clicking here, and from the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals, which you can check out by clicking here. Both galleries are excellent and well worth a look.
Stuart Mitchell.
15th May: We were very sorry to hear of the death of photographer Stuart Mitchell whose work sometimes graced the pages of Eurodragster.com and whose name, although he photographed widely, was particularly familiar in the racing community courtesy of his spectacular Gasser Circus pictures.
Far too many people add the word "Photography" to one's name these days but Stuart had every right to do so. He was not just a photographer but an artist. A very friendly and helpful guy into the bargain, widely-known and well-liked and one of those photogs who never felt the need to tell you how good he was.
Our sympathies to Stuart's family and friends. It probably does not offer much solace now but Stuart's pictures will ever stand in tribute to a fine fellow.
Recall: RJS SFI 3.3 arm restraints.
15th May: Thanks to Tech Inspector Frans Steilberg for passing on the news that
arm restraints manufactured and certified to SFI Specification 3.3 by RJS and
equipped with snap-clasp type tethers have been found to be non-compliant with SFI
Specification 3.3. All snap-clasp type arm restraint assemblies manufactured and
certified to SFI Specification 3.3 by RJS must be immediately be removed from service
and returned to RJS.
You can read the full bulletin from the SFI (PDF format) by clicking here.
Doorslammers update.
15th May: The eagerly-anticipated Doorslammers event returns to Santa Pod Raceway this weekend with a new and improved format and whopping prize fund. The entry list is looking strong and one which is sure to produce some of the most exciting racing seen in recent years. Tickets are still available at www.eticketing.co.uk/santapodraceway or on the gate.
James Forster has been in touch with key details of the arrangments for racers contesting the event:
Gates are open between 10:00 and 19:00 tomorrow (Thursday) for race teams only. After that, gates open at 08:00 on Friday for the duration of the event.
Don't forget that this Friday is also an All Torque Test Day, which still has plenty of spaces available at the moment to get some testing in. With that said, spaces are limited and issued on a first-come first-served basis. Details at www.rwyb.com.
You'll find some drivers' briefing information in your ticket envelope. Please have a good read of the information. There is also a drivers' meeting taking place in the announcement area, next to the shop in the pits, at 09:00 on Saturday. You must attend so please make sure you're in for then. The track opens at 09:30 for heads-up qualifying, and the bracket test run is at 10:00. Full running orders are in the event programme with which you'll be issued on arrival.
The track is scheduled to close at 18:00 on Saturday at which time heads-up qualifying will end, so make sure that you've recorded a time with which you're happy before then, especially in classes which aren't all run. The fire-up road will be closed shortly before that to allow us to finish on time so don't be disappointed if you've left it too late and are turned away. If you're not in the field at that point, and miss the cut-off, you'll be out.
Keep it safe – if you normally run in MSA / FIA competition you will be expected to have the same safety equipment with which you normally run, so make sure that you bring all of your kit.
Entries into the heads-up classes must record a time on Saturday to qualify for Sunday's eliminations, even if it's an all-run field.
Heads-up racers must attend the first round draw on in the announcement area at 18:30 on Saturday. You must at least send a team representative for the subsequent draws on Sunday.
Power will be turned on from Friday lunchtime.
Please be aware that you will need to sign on as usual.
Outlaw Street racer Simon Paul adds: "As we look forward to the Doorslammers I have found three dash plaques from the original Gary's Doorslammer Nationals at Santa Pod in 1985, 1986 and 1987). I can't remember whether the 2½" square dash plaques were given away free or if I bought them. However an interesting piece of memorabilia from some great events from over thirty years ago. I hope that the new Doorslammers event will be as successful!"
SFI 61.1 turbochargers.
14th May: Geoff Martin of the UK Tech Team has been in touch to remind racers that of 20th Apri, SFI Spec 61.1 turbocharger certification life has been revised from one year to two years.
For more details see our news item of 27th March. If you have any queries then you can contact Geoff on ukchassis2@btinternet.com.
NSRA Nostalgia Nationals results.
14th May: Congratulations to the winners at the weekend's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway:
Outlaw Anglia: Jedd Guy 8.2122/163.07 def. Steve Wells 8.7097/154.68 DQ red light
Nostalgia Super Stock: Lee Chiles (10.90) 10.9973/117.01 def. James Oliver (9.74) 9.7530/135.68 DQ red light
Gasser Circus: Tim Holmes (10.70) 10.7966/112.63 def. Martyn Hallam (10.92) 11.0377/117.43
Tri Chevy Shootout: Rob Smallworth 8.7577/150.07 def. Graham Smith 10.0381/136.98
The Gasser Circus final was decided by 0.0010 seconds, which equated to 2.07 inches.
You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored NSRA Nostalgia Nationals pit notes, pictures, qualifying and elimination results by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
NitrOlympX Sportsman fields reduced.
12th May: NitrOlympX Race Director Jerry Lackey has been in touch with some important news about a reduction in Sportsman field sizes at this year's event on 17th-19th August:
Based on our past experience of time problems during our three day event, we are forced to reduce the number of entries which can be accepted for 2018. We can no longer accept almost 300 entries as in the past and risk losing finals or reducing the planed number of qualifying rounds. All Sportsman classes have been reduced as follows:
| Class | Qualifying | Eliminations |
| Supertwin Gas | 16 | 16 |
| Funny Bike | 10 | 8 |
| Competition Eliminator | 16 | 16 |
| Super Comp | 16 | 8 |
| Super Gas | 10 | 8 |
| Pro ET | 40 | 32 |
| Super Pro ET | 32 | 32 |
| Junior Dragster | 20 | 16 |
The standard entry fee until 27th July for all classes excepting Junior Dragster is €250. The new entry fee for Junior Dragster until 27th July is €30.
In order to ensure that we are accepting the best in each class, we are forced to strictly enforce our long-standing General Acceptance rule that two time slips must be submitted with your entry form. This rule has been in our Invitation for several years. Those racers with the best results based upon the time slips submitted with their entry forms, and transferring the entry fee, will be processed first. Entry acceptance and verification will take place via E-Mail as in the past.
We plan to have all our 2018 invitations, entry forms and racers' information on our web site at www.nitrolympx.de no later than mid-June.
We appreciate the racers' understanding our decision to make changes which we think will make our event even stronger, and which has been made in the interest of both racers and spectators.
Official: Shakespeare County Raceway closed.
10th May: Jerry Cookson has been in touch to confirm that the UK's Shakespeare County Raceway is officially closed:
It is with regret that I now have to inform the UK drag racing community that after 44 years as an operational drag strip there will be no more racing activities taking place at Long Marston Airfield's Shakespeare County Raceway. The owners of the airfield along with the tracks marshals and officials would like to thank everyone who over the years has supported the track since its very first national drag meet in 1973 by the National Drag Racing Club. Furthermore we would like to wish all the racers and fans every success for the future.
If any racers and supporters have caravans stored on site we ask that they please remove them from the airfield's storage area by the end of May. The removal of caravans can be made during any week day between the hours of 9.00 am and 6.00 pm or Saturdays between 9.00 am to 1.00pm. The airfield is closed on Sundays. Prior arrangement and pick up details can be made by calling Kenny on 07595 412482 or me on 07595 411079.
It's been a pleasure knowing everyone in my twelve or so years looking after the Raceway's interests, calling the races over the PA, and organising some great events, and I think I can safely speak for everyone who has been involved with the track since its early beginnings. I'll see you somewhere at the strip real soon.
50 years of John Woolfe Racing, Part 2.
10th May: Dave Riswick, CEO of Eurodragster.com sponsor John Woolfe Racing, is celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of involvement in drag racing as Easter 1968 marked the date of the first appearance of the JWR name and colours on a drag racing car. Below is the second of ten instalments of the story of John Woolfe Racing's involvement with our sport, this chapter starting in 1968. Mouse-over any picture for a caption:
The Elvington World Records Weekend which John attended in early October also presented an opportunity for him to watch Rex Sluggett's fuel dragster Tudor Rose set a new World Record with Dennis Priddle at the helm. John had never witnessed the shattering sound of a supercharged fuel dragster before. The sheer power of the 426 Keith Black Chrysler took his breath away.
This encounter in Yorkshire led John to consider how he could become more involved in drag racing. Before the paint had dried, I had rounded up some of the key people in the sport for him to have a get together with at his London flat to discuss the idea of locating a drag racing venue site much closer to London. In attendance was Dick Lawrence, Bernard Davies, Peter Billinton, Clive Skilton, Dennis Priddle, Mark Stratton, and myself. The meeting went well and everyone contributed to the discussions resulting in a job list for each constituent . John held a subsequent meeting between Rex Sluggett and Dennis Priddle during which John suggested that he take a financial interest in the continued running of the Tudor Rose Partnership.
In this year John Woolfe really changed my life and that of drag racing with the Hustler team. Once Woolfe was on board with drag racing he knew that he wanted more. About this time, my stint with the United States Air Force was almost finished and I was heading back to my West Coast roots.
John invited me down to London for talks about the future of his organisation and in doing so he proposed that I came back from America once I was free from the US Government and join him in managing John Woolfe Racing and the newly planned operation based on the A1 near St Neots, in Huntingdonshire. Having accepted the challenge of going into partnership with him, I was able to return to the UK in July and dive into a dream job and take up the opportunity of opening one of the first American style Speed Shops in the UK.
By the end of the year we held our Grand Opening of what became Pitstop Motors, the trading name to front the John Woolfe Racing workshops at the back of the petrol station site. I became an official petrol pump attendant for AMOCO petroleum. What a challenge, I didn't look back on this for many a year. So busy was I handing out quadruple Green Shield stamps!
John Woolfe was very active with the Roundy Round brigade and he left the drag racing to Mark Stratton and the Hustler team for 1969. John gave Mark the heads up to build a new drag racing machine. Mark was not idle and as the 1968 season drew to a close the development of John Woolfe Racing, drag racing style really took off.
Mark Stratton's profession was, of all things, button salesman. Yes, buttons. His father was the MD of a London based company specialising in this product and as a result Mark scaled the whole of the UK visiting large department stores. This gave him the chance to get to know where various drag racers hung out and Mark found himself in the north of the country visiting some of the early regional representatives appointed by John Bennett, Chairman of the British Drag Racing & Hot Rod Association.
One of the reps worked for Reliant Motor Company in Tamworth, Staffordshire on the A5 and one day while visiting, the rep mentioned that Reliant just announced the launch of a new estate version of the Scimitar saloon, the Reliant Scimitar GTE. Well the next thing we knew there was this fibreglass GTE body sitting in Mark's driveway which mysteriously appeared one night in late November, compliments of Reliant.
It wasn't long before the Hustler boys gathered and began constructing one of the very first Funny Cars British Style. The Big Block Chevy from last season's BSA Scout now found a new home and a state of the art B&M Turbo Hydro Clutch transmission was ordered from California and by the early weeks of April the Reliant Scimitar GTE was débuted at the Pod for shakedown runs. It was a handful but showed great potential for the period. With the exception of Colin Mullen's Invader, nothing like it had arrived in drag racing and was an immediate sensation. Mark's wife Daphne christened the car Whistler.
John's chief mechanic Mike Treutlein was the first to drive it and after one run said it goes like hell but it doesn't have any brakes. Next, I took it out and did a couple of half-track runs and decided that Mike was right! It frightened me big time. I thought "This isn't for me" and there was Stratton smiling when we pushed it back into the pits. Teething troubles were soon resolved and a parachute was fitted that afternoon and so out I went again. This didn't make any real difference and I decided that it would take a much braver driver than me to make this work. No one else wanted to drive it so back to Mark's workshop and a major overhaul of the brake system was carried out.
We took it back to Santa Pod again for the early May meeting and there was Dennis Priddle mooching around the car. Having had an interesting chat, I said "Would you like to have a go
at driving Whistler?". He smiled and signed on. He kept his foot in it and much to our surprise the car ran a respectable mid 11.00 second time at about 108 mph and Dennis actually
managed to stop before the Reliant went into the pile of pig shit at the end of the runway. Whistler won the Top Competition place that day. But wait a minute there were only a
couple of Jags running in that class. Well what the heck, we were all impressed and so was Dennis. That being settled I offered him the opportunity to drive the car again at the Whitsun
meeting at the end of the month, and for everyone's efforts this day, Priddle and the Hustler team won a little trophy.
Mark had settled the car down and the Whistler was becoming predictable and Dennis appeared to be enjoying it. A few weeks later at the BDR&HRA's Big Go over the Whitsun weekend Dennis was back at the wheel, proving the car and himself worthy by winning Top Competition Altered with an ET of 11.35/122.
Less than two weeks later the whole world stopped.
In the opening lap of the 1969 Le Mans 24-hour race, John Woolfe crashed his Porsche 917. Having been thrown from the car, he died instantly. Everyone was in shock. All of us being so young found it difficult to cope with the reality that John who was only 37 years old was gone.
Things were going so well and then all of a sudden you realize just how fragile life really is. John died doing what he loved. He was put to rest at the Hoop Lane Synagogue Cemetery in Finchley, North London. This was so long ago and to this day it rings in my head... what if? What captures the time that has passed is summed up by explaining that this all happened before man set foot on the Moon.
Some weeks of down time and reflection took place before Arnold Burton, John's partner in the John Woolfe circuit racing side of things, visited Pitstop Motors and after lengthy discussions said that he wanted to carry on and felt that John would have wanted it this way.
Soon we were attempting to get back up and going again. However, it was difficult. But then the Swedish Hot Rod Association invited us to their 2nd International Drag Race meeting being held at Anderstorp Raceway on 26th-27th July. Whistler had clutch problems, however Dennis did manage to win the event and the Swedes loved the John Woolfe Whistler. Dennis was already a household name with the Swedish drag racing fraternity from driving Tudor Rose at their inaugural drag race meeting the year earlier.
Once back in the UK, Whistler was entered in the Woodvale, Merseyside drag race and was beaten by Hush Too, a Jag-powered altered which caught Dennis by surprise when Ed Gurney put a hole shot on him and won with a slower time. "He who snoozes loses", but not for long...
Dennis drove Whistler again at the 1969 August Bank Holiday meeting at Santa Pod, winning with a personal best of 10.58/129.99 against Fred Whittle's Shutdown. This signalled the last race in which Whistler competed. Dennis was presented with the Championship Trophy by Bob Phelps. I was impressed.
No Prep Nationals report.
10th May: As promised we have augmented our No Prep Nationals coverage with a report and second gallery kindly supplied by Bob Roberts.
You can check out No Prep Nationals report and galleries, which are presented in association with John Woolfe Racing, by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Perfect ET Award continues.
8th May: We are pleased to announce that Vitesse
Labelling Products will sponsor the Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award for the remainder of 2018.
The first of eight companies to offer to take up the Perfect ET Award, Vitesse Labelling Products is owned by Modurstang Pro ET racer and multiple UK National Sportsman ET Champion Al Platt and offers labelling services to small and large companies including those in the clothing, chemical, food and automotive industries as well as to the NHS, local authority and government. For more details visit www.vitesse-labelling.co.uk or call 0161 343 3383.
The Eurodragster.com / Vitesse Labelling Products Perfect ET Award will be awarded for the first run at an event +0.000 on index or dial-in and will start at £50. If not won at an event then the prize fund will be increased by £50 for the following event; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the following event.
To be eligible to win the Award, decals (right) must be carried, clearly visible, one on each side of the vehicle. If a Perfect ET is recorded without decals then there will be no argument, we will not pay out and the money will be awarded to the next racer to record a Perfect ET. Decals will be available in Signing On commencing with the FIA/FIM Main Event.
The Eurodragster.com / Vitesse Labelling Products Perfect ET Award will be available at the following events, all at Santa Pod Raceway:
- FIA/FIM Main Event
- SPRC Summernationals
- Bug Jam
- Redline Rumble (Championship bike classes)
- FIA/FIM European Finals
- UK National Finals
We would also like to pay tribute again to Derek and Fiona Flynn of Gold RV for their long support of the Perfect Awards scheme and their continuing support of Eurodragster.com.
No Prep Nationals gallery.
8th May: Lee Huxley and Harrison Brown duked it out for the final of the headline event at yesterday's No Prep Nationals at Rockingham Drag Strip with Lee merging victorious in the eighth-mile flashlight-start race.
A report will follow shortly but you can check out a gallery of yesterday's events, which is presented in association with John Woolfe Racing, by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Many thanks to Diana Macrae and Callum Pudge for their hard work and rapid turn-round of pictures.
Sisters make the finals.
7th May: UK Pro Stock Bike racer Bobby Frazier returns from Kunmadaras in Hungary with news of success for the family and for Shark Attack Racing:
Three UK Junior Drag Bike entrants made the trip to Hungary: Meggie, Blade Dummer and Liam Holgate. All three riders were a credit to their sport and represented the UK with smiles and professionalism. Meggie Talbot left Hungary with a new PB of 9.23 seconds, number one qualifier and victory in the first-ever round of the FIM Europe Junior Drag Bike Cup, beating Blade Dummer in a close-fought final.
At the last minute I decided to take the Pro Stock Bike to test. Having never done a full pass my PB was originally 9.24 and I went into the weekend with no expectations other than a hope to get into the eights. After running an 8.47 I decided to enter the Hungarian Championship round in Competition Bike. An 8.48 and an 8.34 followed and then I ran an 8.13 to get into the final.
Unfortunately we lost in the final by the smallest of margins but to be runner-up never having made a full pass, and having gone in to the weekend expecting to leave in the high eights, we were more than happy with this result.
Meggie and I would like to thank all of our sponsors Eurol, Tijger Leathers, Bikers World, NGK and doyousee.me, and to thank all the crew at the Hungarian Drag Arena for a top weekend. Special thanks go to Rene van den Berg for making all of this possible and finally to Kerryanne van den Berg and Chris Hope.
Swift snippets.
7th May: Our sympathies to the family and friends of steam rocket pioneer François Gissy who was killed in an accident at the end of a high-speed run on his rocket bicycle at the weekend. François' world record speed of 333 kmh is likely to last a long time which makes a fine legacy.
We would like to say a big Happy Birthday with hugs to Hayley Fyfe of the UK's Wrathchild Wild Bunch team who was a willing participant in this year's April Fool at the Festival of Power. Have a lovely day Hayley.
VHRA Vintage Nationals gallery.
7th May: The VHRA Vintage Nationals took place in beautiful weather at Santa Pod Raceway yesterday (Sunday). In association with John Woolfe Racing we have posted an end-day gallery which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Drag racing historian Nick Pettit has posted a fine highlights video of the event which you can check out on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RzktoV7sFQ.
Apologies for the audio problems with yesterday's webcast. The two exterior mics, which feed in the trackside sound, were hissing, popping and banging. We tried everything with the remote assistance of Julian of Nitro FM but nothing worked so we had to go with the PA feed which was mainly music. We have since had an idea of what may have been wrong but, whatever, we will sort it with Julian for this weekend's Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcast of the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals.
OCS Group Open Day gallery.
5th May: Today's Open Day at the premises of OCS Group wasa joyful occasion which took place in glorious weather. It was attended by a large number of fine-looking cars as well as those in the workshops. The paint shop and dyno room were also open for inspection.
In association with John Woolfe Racing we are pleased to bring you a gallery of 100 pictures courtesy of Kirstie and your News Editor. You can check it out by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
We are now in place at Santa Pod Raceway setting up the Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcam kit for tomorrow's webcast of the VHRA Vintage Nationals.
Garrett gives it up.
3rd May: UK Pro Modified racer Rick Garrett has announced that he has to retire from racing and that consequently
his low six-second Willys is up for sale.
"I have had some great times with all the other racers, but unfortunately my racing days are over", Rick told Eurodragster.com. "The car has got to be sold due to work commitments. It really is quite an upsetting time but I have got to hang my boots up."
The Mauney-built carbon fibre-bodied Willys is up to spec and comes complete with 872 ci motor and a stack of spares. Rick's all-but-new tractor-trailer is also for sale. For full details check out Cars For Sale in our Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored Swap Meet.
Swift snippets.
3rd May: Many thanks to Andy Marrs for passing us the official Fast Show timing data. You can check it out by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Weekend event coverage.
3rd May: Eurodragster.com will be out and about this weekend to bring you event coverage in association with John Woolfe Racing.
We start with Saturday's OCS Group Open Day from which we will post a gallery late in the day.
We then move on to Santa Pod Raceway for Sunday's VHRA Vintage Nationals. The Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcam will be on-line so long as the track is open, and we will post a gallery at the end of the day.
Finally a report of Monday's No Prep Nationals at Rockingham Drag Strip will be posted after the event is finished.
We will post direct Home Page links as appropriate over the weekend, but you will be able to reach our coverage of all of these events by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
FIA/FIM Main Event entry update.
1st May: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for sending us the final version of the official entry list for the FIA/FIM Main Event, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 25th-28th May and which is the first round of the FIA European Championships and the first and second rounds of the FIM European Championships as well as a UK and/or SPRC Championship round for Comp Eliminator, Gearhead Garage UK Super Pro ET, Modurstang Pro ET, Super Comp, Terry Gibbs Super Gas Shootout 2018, Super Street, Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator and Lucas Oil Junior Dragster.
You can check out the Main Event entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Standard-rate entry has closed; entry now, if accepted, may be subject to a Late Entry penalty. If you have any queries about Main Event entry then please get in touch with Ian on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.
North Weald petition opened.
1st May: Thanks to Damian Burke for passing on details of an on-line petition to Epping Council to reconsider their refusal to allow North Weald Drag Strip a licence for RWYB events this season.
As well as running tightly-organised and hugely popular events the organisers of racing at North Weald have for several years contributed in a major way towards the reduction of street racing in what is a very large catchment area. As ever there are probably other interests and motives about which we do not know but it is not an unfamiliar story that a single individual making enough fuss stops a race track operating despite majority support, and that is what has happened here.
If you would like to add your name to the petition to Epping Council then you can read more and sign by clicking here.
Swift snippets.
1st May: Our next - or, thanks to the weather, the first - scheduled Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcast is from this Sunday's VHRA Vintage Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway. There will also be an end-day gallery presented in association with John Woolfe Racing.
Many thanks to Mike Collins for sending us the usual preview of his column in the latest issue of Street Machine magazine, available if you are quick, plus bonus material exclusively for Eurodragster.com readers. Click on the images above for the PDF downloads.
No Prep entry update.
1st May: If you are planning on entering the Gearhead Garage No Prep Nationals, which is to be held at Rockingham Dragstrip this coming Monday (7th), then advance entry closes this Thursday. Paul Marston writes:
You can enter via Facebook on the Rockingham Dragstrip page, E-Mail pmracing@gmail.com, or call me for an entry form on 07831 650230. If you want to arrive on Sunday ready for Monday then you must pre-enter. After that we are happy to accept entries on the day for all classes - No Prep, Grudge or RWYB - and for cars, bikes and karts.
We must thank our sponsors who have been such a great help. Mick Pusey and Gearhead Garage for taking the title sponsorship and providing the commemorative T-Shirts to every No Prep and Grudge Competitor, lane sponsor and prize money from Comanche Racecars - a fair number of the entries come from their workshops. Lane sponsor Southern Rebel Speed Shop, again we appreciate all you help, and last but by no means least JT Construction who are sponsoring the trophies and has added another £500 to the prize fund for the winner of the No Prep Nationals. I am sure I speak for all the competitors when I say that we very much appreciate the support of the sponsors.
With more than twenty entries in No Prep Nationals 2 there is a prize pot of £1500 cash up for grabs for the winner. There is no favourite, no way of telling who is going to win. This is no prep, heads-up, eighth-mile, no time, no speed, flashlight start, Street Outlaw-style racing here in the UK. Come and watch history being made at Rockingham Dragstrip, the new home of no prep racing.
As most people now know the drag racing is just one part of the RD3 Event at Rockingham Motor Speedway on Monday. Also featured are drifting and track day testing on the National circuit, there is also a show'n'shine car show in the inner paddock. Spectator admission to all areas is £10 in advance and £12 on the gate. Gates open sharp at 08:00 and the track action starts at 09:00. Look forward to seeing you all there. Special thanks to Rockingham Motor Speedway for hosting us.
Fast Show results, gallery.
30th April: In association with John Woolfe Racing we have posted a gallery from yesterday's Fast Show at Santa Pod Raceway.
Conditions were difficult with a late start due to rain and then drizzle and low temperatures but the strip was open for several hours with FWD and JDS Street able to run to completion. Congratulations to our winners:
Front Wheel Drive: Dan Frost 10.0955/151.59 def. Kiel Prestman 10.1592/140.84
JDS Street: Jeff Ludgate (13.03) broke def. Simon Durrans (13.91) 13.7367/113.91 breakout
Congratulations also to Martin Hill who set a new Personal Best speed of 308.34 mph in the Fireforce 5 Jet Dragster on a pass of 5.063 seconds.
No racing took place at the preceding Saturday Night special due to rain but you can check out a small pitside gallery courtesy of Callum Pudge and Diana Macrae, and today's Fast Show gallery, by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
FIM Championships commence.
29th April: The 2018 FIM European Drag Bike Championships commence today at Hotrod Majális at Kunmadaras in Hungary featuring the first rounds of FIM Europe Super Street Bike and FIM Europe Junior Drag Bike.
You will be able to stay in touch with events at Kunmadaras at www.kunmadarasmotorsport.hu.
Swift snippets.
29th April: We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to UK Junior Dragster racer Thaliah Gibb. Have a lovely day Thaliah.
Williams Brothers head west.
28th April: Further to our spy picture of 15th April, the UK's Williams Bros Racing Modurstang Pro ET team have announced that they will be racing in the USA including at the legendary NHRA US Nationals in Indianapolis:
The 15th April spy shot was the very distinctive green bonnet, or should I say hood, of Nic Williams' 69 Camaro which is now waiting to be loaded into a container to go
to the USA. It has always been the dream for Nic and Dan to race in the States; now it is about to become a reality.
The engine in the Camaro had been away to Tilburg Racing Engines for a major rebuild and to try to squeeze every extra horsepower possible and looking at the dyno figures I can only report mission accomplished. Brian Tilburg is one of the most respected and revered engine builders in the USA and this engine is certainly right up there in the power stakes. The Williams Bros Racing team have always been well-known for their dedication to NHRA Stock-legal race cars, and now it is time to take on the Americans at their own game.
At the first event Nic will be behind the wheel as the team head to Lebanon Valley, New York to race at a Lucas Oils Divisional event on 13th-15th June. The next
event is the big one, the US Nationals at Indy on 29th August to 3rd September, again with Nic behind the wheel. As soon as Indy is completed the team return to
England so that Dan can compete at the European Finals with the '69 Chevelle, then back out to the States to compete in the Dutch Classic, one of the biggest and
toughest Stock meetings of the year. Dates for this one are 27th-30th September but this time Dan will be racing. Depending on schedules we may try to get in one
more event in by the end of the year before the Camaro heads to Florida where it will be staying until next year when a race schedule can be planned.
If all goes well then we could possibly look to send Dan's 69 Nova to race there as well later.
We really cannot wait to do this and fly the flag for the UK. We will of course be telling everyone about Eurodragster.com and will ensure that as many cars out there carry the stickers like they do here in Europe (Thanks! - Ed). We will also be letting everyone know about Santa Pod Raceway and will be promoting them as well.
We should have our new Going Home Tour T-Shirts available very soon and will have them for sale at the Main Event.
It goes without saying that taking on this schedule whilst racing in the UK and running OCS Paint and Williams Bros Racing is a lot to ask but the team are up to the challenge. There are numerous people to thank already: Brian Tilburg for building a kick ass engine and helping with obtaining a race trailer and storage for the car, Joe Gibbs Oils for helping the team with lubricants, Darren Prentice at Santa Pod Raceway, Ian Marshall for helping with the competition licence formalities to name a few. We will of course keep everyone updated through our Facebook pages and here on Eurodragster.com.
Swift snippets.
28th April: After a gap of a few years in which he occasionally contested Pro Modified Sweden's Jöran Persåker has announced a return to Top Fuel Dragster at June's Scandinavian Internationals at Tierp Arena. Jöran will be driving the car previously campaigned by Monica Öberg with Monica's long-time racing partner and tuner Dan Söderberg calling the shots.
Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 8 of the official entry list for the FIA/FIM Main Event which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 25th-28th May. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
European Championships' future discussed.
27th April: Trakbak Racing and Santa Pod Raceway CEO Keith Bartlett writes that all of the track promoters and organisers who hold rounds of the FIA European Drag Racing Championships met in Sweden on Wednesday (25th) to discuss the future of holding European Championship events in 2019 and onwards.
Representing the tracks and promoters were Leo Laurell, Lasse Koskinen and Esko Raisvuo from FHRA (Finland), Jerry
Lackey from Hockenheim (Germany), Christopher Hamilton and Urban Axelsson from Tierp Arena (Sweden) and Keith
Bartlett from Santa Pod (UK) along with Åsa Kinnemar and Roger Lyrén from Speedgroup (Sweden).
The main issue under discussion regarded whether the tracks and promoters are going to continue with the FIA European Drag Racing Championships in 2019 or to bring about another series. This has been a major ongoing issue for the past three years. What is, today, quite different from the past is that all of the track promoters and organisers along with Speedgroup are now on the same page and singing from the same song sheet - this is a first - and at the same time a major step forward for European drag racing, the teams, racers and track promoters involved. Whatever decision is taken for 2019 will be a joint decision and one to which all of the major tracks involved will agree.
There was an agreed plan of action starting next Tuesday, 1st May, along with a timeframe for decisions to be taken in good time for everyone involved, racers, teams and organisers, to be able to plan and schedule their 2019 season.
Main Event entry closing.
27th April: Today (Friday 27th) is the official closing date for entry to the FIA/FIM Main Event, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 25th-28th May and which is the first round of the FIA European Championships and the first and second rounds of the FIM European Championships as well as a UK and/or SPRC Championship round for Comp Eliminator, Gearhead Garage UK Super Pro ET, Modurstang Pro ET, Super Comp, Terry Gibbs Super Gas Shootout 2018, Super Street, Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator and Lucas Oil Junior Dragster.
Entry after today, if accepted, may be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can fill in and submit or download the official Main Event entry forms via the Information link of the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for sending us Version 7 of the official entry list which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
If you have any queries about Main Event entry then please get in touch with Ian on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.
Pit Guides sought at Main Event.
11th April: Volunteers are again sought for the Institute of the Motor Industry Students' Day
on day one of the FIA/FIM Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway (Friday 25th May).
The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame has been asked to assemble a team of Pit Tour Guides to accompany groups around the pits and to introduce them to the technology, racers and crews. The busy period tends to be between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm, so if you are with a team and not running during those times please get in touch. Or if you have been involved in drag racing and think that you can pass on your knowledge and enthusiasm to students entering the motor industry then get in touch. The BDRHoF will be based in Pitside VIP.
If you are available and would like to join the team then please contact Stu Bradbury at britishdrhof@aol.com.
Racetech put Jordan in the chair.
27th April: UK Junior Dragster racer Jordan Payne is delighted to announce a new partnership with Racetech Europe:
Racetech Europe, based in Tamworth, Staffordshire UK, is the official distributor of Racetech safety equipment for the UK and Europe. Their world-renowned composite and carbon fibre race seats can be found fitted to thousands of race cars across the globe, newly including my new ride for 2019. I met Racetech at the Autosport International Show in January. After hearing of their great reputation, I knew that a Racetech seat would be my safest option when strapped into the car, behind the wheel.
As well as the wide range of racing seats which Racetech have on offer, they also stock harnesses, steering wheels, roll cage padding and many other racing accessories. To find out more about Racetech Europe visit www.racetecheurope.co.uk/
I am looking forward to begin testing in the Sticky Situation Racing Corvette later this season and I fully intend to compete in Super Pro ET throughout 2019. To find out more information about Sticky Situation Racing please visit www.jordanpayne.co.uk and our Facebook page.
Swift snippets.
27th April: Karen McGarrigle asked us to say a big Happy Birthday for today to Hutchison & Dibley Sportsman ET racer Jon McGarrigle. Our pleasure, have a great day Jon.
Of legends and lakesters.
27th April: The UK's Geoff Stilwell has been Pond-hopping supervising his 7707 Salt Shaker Land Speed car but also visited Los Angeles last weekend to attend a birthday party for three of the sport's icons:
The birthday boys were Top Fuel Guru Bill Schultz who was 81 and my dear friends Marvin "Who" Graham (76) and the one and only TV Tommy Ivo (82). Held under the lovely clear California Skies and on a warm evening the birthday party took place Sharon and Bob Muravez' (the latter aka Floyd Lippecotte) hacienda in Burbank where Sharon supplied the amazing food, cakes and drinks. Joining the birthday boys to celebrate one of the all-time greatest racers and now part of the 7707 Landspeed Team Al Teague with his wife Jayne. Also there were Jerry Glenn, Top Fuel racer and driver of the Schultz and Glenn Nostalgia Top Fuel Car, Top Fuel racer Joel Limbeck, legend and sponsor of the 7707 Landspeed car Ed Iskenderian, plus numerous other family members and friends.
Of course there was lots of bench racing and story-telling from the birthday boys. Bob Muravez also gets all racers to sign the huge poster hanging in his workshop and Ed Iskenderian took time to climb the ladder and sign it.
Geoff adds that he has constituted his Land Speed team including the above-mentioned Crew Chief and Top Fuel guru Bill Schultz, buddy, Top Alcohol FC racer and tuner Sparky Perry, Bob Muravez and Al Teague who will be consulting and giving guidance:
I cannot thank everyone involved in this project enough but I need to mention well-known tuner Norm Grimes who has serviced all the heads and has made them look like new; I cannot recommend him highly enough. Thanks also to Isky for his amazing support and help in supplying the cams and lifters for our two 482 ci KB motors, a huge thank you also to Carl Olson and Mike Kuhl for helping us put together an amazing parts inventory, and Hilborn Injection for servicing the fuel pumps and giving us a fully flow-tested system.
So where are we currently? Many old-time racers will remember Howard Cams, well Howard Cams built many years ago an amazing cam which would take up to 4000 BHP. Over the years it didn't get used but I am glad to say that Bill Schultz has located it and a very quick refurb is underway. Our target is to get our main motor built and on the dyno for testing before we put it in the car. That will give us a baseline tune-up so that we can get out and test the car before Bonneville which is creeping us on us very quickly. We have to be ready to be on the salt by 10th August.
Many small jobs have already been completed such us cleaning the DJ Safety parachutes and buying spare drogues as the salt eats those up very quickly. All the safety equipment has been refreshed and recertified, we have new blower restraints and a new seat harness from Simpson, and I took delivery of my new firesuit and helmet Allen Bridges at Simpson. Again I have to thank Allen and the crew for giving me the very latest technology in my firesuit and helmet.
So there we are... it's now time for building up and getting everything ready. If anyone is planning on visiting Bonneville this year then please make that sure you book your hotel rooms right now as they sell out very quickly.
Swift snippets.
26th April: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 6 of the official entry list for the FIA/FIM Main Event which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 25th-28th May. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. You can find the official Main Event entry forms on the Information link of the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to longtime Eurodragster.com reader and occasional News contributor Stephen Billings. Have a great day Stephen and thanks for the long support.
Through the bubbles for Nan.
25th April: SPRC marshal Caroline Boncey is again taking part in a charity Bubble
Rush to benefit the Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted, where her late grandmother was cared for, and
would be pleased if any Eurodragster.com reader could sponsor her for this good cause.
"The Bubble Rush is a 5 km walk / run in Gadebridge Park in Hemel Hempstead on 29th April", says Oscar. "They have four bubble stations - pink, blue, yellow and green - each of which we go through twice. The first year I looked like a smurf and the second year Oscar the Grouch.
"What colour this year? Every year I look forward to raising as much as I can to help the hospice which cared for my nan".
You can find out more and donate on Oscar's Justgiving page at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/caroline-boncey3.
State of the Union.
25th April: Our good friend Markus Münch has been in touch with a pre-season update on the Drag Race Union Super Pro ET and Pro ET Championships:
The start of the season is looming and so far we have twenty entries in Super Pro ET.
Best wishes to those teams who are no longer racing with us this year and a very warm
welcome to the teams who have joined us. Entries so far: Oliver Petzold (willing to defend
his Championship), Stefan Eisenhauer, Eric Angeloni, Jochen Beck, Franz Aschenbrenner,
Jens Könnecke, Billy Gane, Alain Dürr, Robert Gassner, Enrico Bailo, Fabio
Cassinelli, Walle Strobel, Florian Uebel, Alex Halter, Beat Rechsteiner, Simon Rudiferia,
Marc Henney, Gerhard Dold, Fabien Dubois and Elodie Dubois.
Another big thank you to our sponsors, many of whom have stood with us for a long time, and welcome to those who are supporting us for the first time in 2018. We are happy to announce that the winner will take home 2500€ at the end of the season. Thanks to all sponsors and participants: Eisenhauer KFZ Service, Team 74 (Mike Bruckmüller), Hillbilly Hellfire Racing, Geiger Cars München, Spedition Schumann, Skull Racing, Farber und Steigner GBR, Alex Halter, Racepoint.it, Rechsteiner Bedachungen, and BDRC.
The Bechyne race unfortunately got cancelled again but I'm looking forward to seeing you all at Rivanazzano, Santa Pod, Clastres, Kiskunlachaza and Hockenheim.
Meanwhile, twenty five teams have registered for Pro ET. There are many familiar faces, but
also some newcomers. The full list of participants is published on the Drag Race Union
web site at www.dragraceunion.eu.
If you click on the start number or the team name then you will be taken directly to the driver
profile.
We would also like to thank our sponsors US Speed Shop, Spedition Schumann, Glas Schöninger, Zollshop.de, Computech, All Automotive, Skull Racing, Färber and Steiger GBR, Hoosier-Rennreifen.de, Quick Performance and Sacotec.
The Challenge scoring runs are fixed and can also be found on the homepage. They are marked with a "ProET Siegerkranz".
The first race, Wide Open in Rivanazzano, is a few weeks away so do not waste any time in finishing your race car and equipment.
Swift snippets.
25th April: We have a birthday in the extended family today in the person of our good buddy Maikel Gloudemans of our streaming service provider Doyousee.me. From Gijs and from the Eurodragster.com team have a great day M@ik.
We have firmed up our plans for coverage from Santa Pod Raceway this weekend. As well as a Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcast of the Saturday Night Special, we will in association with John Woolfe Racing post an end-day gallery. We will also post an end-day gallery after Sunday's Fast Show. Kirstie has been granted an exeat to tend to a singed Camaro so Callum Pudge has kindly agreed to join Diana Macrae and Tog. You can check out our 2018 coverage schedule by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
FIA/FIM Main Event entry update.
24th April: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for sending us Version 5 of the official entry list for the FIA/FIM Main Event, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 25th-28th May and which is the first round of the FIA European Championships and the first and second rounds of the FIM European Championships as well as a UK and/or SPRC Championship round for Comp Eliminator, Gearhead Garage UK Super Pro ET, Modurstang Pro ET, Super Comp, Terry Gibbs Super Gas Shootout 2018, Super Street, Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator and Lucas Oil Junior Dragster.
You can check out the Main Event entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Standard-rate entry closes on Friday of this week (27th) after which date entry, if accepted, may be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can fill in and submit or download the official Main Event entry forms via the Information link of the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
If you have any queries about Main Event entry then please get in touch with Ian on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.
Swift snippets.
24th April: We would like to say a big Happy Birthday for today (Tuesday) to our good buddy, Heaven and Hell and Earsplittenloudenboomer crew and Honorary Eurodragster.com Staff Member Colin Roaf. Have a great day Colin.
Geoff Stilwell asked us to say a big Happy Birthday for today to his friend and Crew Chief on the 7700 Land Speed
car Bill Schultz, seen at right tucking in to a birthday cake at a weekend party with
fellow US legends Tommy Ivo and Marvin Graham. We were lucky enough to meet Bill at Piteå and elsewhere in
Europe in the early 2000s and have good memories of some great laughs including Bill's classic take on weather
forecasters somehow keeping their jobs despite screwing up daily, which is as true now as it was back then and
ever shall be. Have a great day Bill.Web site updates.
24th April: The latest updates on the Drag Racing Europe Blog include news of VP Racing Fuels' official partnership with Speedgroup and a catch-up with 2017 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Duncan (The Maltese Lion) Micallef. You can check it out at www.dragracingeurope.eu
The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with pictures from the recent Saturday Night Special at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Mad's pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.
Also posting pictures is Paul Lister whose Festival of Power Friday pictures you can check out on the Drag Car Anon web site at www.dragcaranon.co.uk.
Roland Pratt.
22nd April: We were very sorry to learn of the death of Roland Pratt of the UK's 1960s-70s Hillbillies team.
Roland and Mike Derry of the Hillbillies fielded a classic short-wheelbase Topolino-bodied Comp Altered, campaigned Funny Cars with Vauxhall VX, Avenger and Scimitar bodies, and a former Skilton rear-engined dragster. A top end crash in the VX Funny Car and a huge fire in the Avenger earned Roland a reputation for being indestructible. Roland also built one incarnation of the Stones' Tee Rat Fuel Altered.
We never had the privilege of meeting Roland but as fans of long standing we were well aware of his good reputation and of course of his occasionally-spectacular career. Our sympathies to Roland's family and friends.
Take a bet on The Doorslammers.
21st April: Santa Pod Raceway, in collaboration with Argyll Entertainment, the UK licensed operator of
RedZoneSports.bet, are pleased to announce the first-ever on-line
betting on drag racing at the Doorslammers event to be held
over the weekend of 19th-20th May. The prize money and the atmosphere will set The Doorslammers apart from Santa Pod's other
traditional drag racing events and the competition will be open exclusively to door-bodied cars. With the growing popularity of
TV shows such as Roadkill and Discovery Channel's Street Outlaws this eagerly-anticipated, street-style racing event
is expected to attract intense interest from fans and racers alike.
Especially for the event, the lanes of Santa Pod's famous drag strip will be renamed Red and Black, and a number of exciting betting opportunities will be made available throughout the racing weekend. The first specials are now live at RedZoneSports.bet/SantaPod.
Warren Llambias, Co-Founder of Redzonesports.bet, commented "As the British home of American sport, RedZoneSports.bet is delighted and immensely proud to be the first on-line bookmaker to offer odds on drag racing. Customers in the UK will receive the exclusive opportunity to bet on races from Santa Pod via mobile or desktop, when the famous Doorslammers event returns to Santa Pod on May 19th/20th. Although this is a one-off event, we very much hope to provide betting on a wider range of drag racing events in the future."
Keith Bartlett, CEO of Trakbak Racing and Santa Pod Raceway, added "Santa Pod has been looking to develop on-line drag racing betting for some time and we're delighted to have found the perfect partner in Redzonesports.bet. Our new Doorslammers event is the ideal occasion to introduce this exciting new element to drag racing and further to enhance our spectator experience. As a high-profile venue and host to such a spectacular sport, we are always looking to add value and enjoyment to our events. Therefore we look forward to working with Redzonesports.bet in the future to add a new dimension to the sport of drag racing."
Swift snippets.
21st April: Congratulations to Glenn Ramsden of UK Event Safety who suggested the best name for Santa Pod Raceway's new counter-rotator. We had several entries but Glenn's Sled Zeppelin takes the £25 put up by our good friend Bob Roberts, to whom many thanks. This name is, of course, neither official nor binding but we had a good time reading everyone's suggestions.
This weekend's Saturday Night Special at Santa Pod Raceway is scheduled to be our first Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcast of the season. If you are running at any of our webcast events this season then the best address to give sponsors, fans, family and friends will always be www.eurodragster.com/webcam. The forwarding address from that landing page may change, but eurodragster.com/webcam is guaranteed to get you there. For our current webcast schedule click here or click on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
FIA/FIM Main Event entry update.
19th April: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for sending us Version 3 of the official entry list for the FIA/FIM Main Event, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 25th-28th May and which is the first round of the FIA European Championships and the first and second rounds of the FIM European Championships as well as a UK and/or SPRC Championship round for Comp Eliminator, Gearhead Garage UK Super Pro ET, Modurstang Pro ET, Super Comp, Terry Gibbs Super Gas Shootout 2018, Super Street, Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator and Lucas Oil Junior Dragster.
You can check out the Main Event entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Standard-rate entry closes on Friday of next week, 27th April, after which date entry, if accepted, may be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can fill in and submit or download the official Main Event entry forms via the Information link of the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
If you have any queries about Main Event entry then please get in touch with Ian on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.
Off to a Flyer.
19th April: After spending what seemed to be a lifetime in the garage over the winter helping Scott Crookston with his new Outlaw Anglia, Fyfe's finest Colin Millar got to spend some time with his own car and had it ready for testing at Santa Pod Raceway last weekend:
I got it all back together in one piece and was desperate to get back in the driving seat and actually run down Santa Pod's new concrete track. It was a very last-minute decision to load up and head down, just Lynn and I and no Scott, his car will be back down the last weekend of April for testing. A couple of phone calls and Ronnie Mercer jumped at the chance as he has also been very busy in the garage over the winter. "See you Friday night" was the call on the phone.
Down the road and got all set up with a view to race Sunday, but the sun came out on Saturday and we couldn't help ourselves. So a few launches and a squirt to 300 feet then off the gas, car back and check everything was all good. Three runs, all checkout passes.
Sunday and it was very overcast, with the sun trying so hard to peer through the haze, the heat did start to come through though and off we went for a full pass, but not full out-and-out. All good with a 9.1 and nice and straight. Break for lunch but Ian Marshall kept on prepping the track, another glue session and the track felt great underfoot so I made the decision to give it some. A nice long rolling burnout, back into stage then a sensible launch rpm and away we went. 8.0/170, was well happy with that. Back around again for the last one of the day with an 8.1 which was great, hooked and went lovely and straight. So for me the track was great and we were as always well looked-after by Ian, Dave and Darren and all the fabulous Santa Pod marshals.
What was also fantastic was that Rocket Ronnie Mercer ran his first ever nine, well done that man.
Special thanks also to Mick Taylor, Rob Chilton, Ginner, Ronnie, Annette and Lynn for crewing, food, banter and an all-round great time. Roll on the last week in April when I hope to help Scott. And roll on the Doorslammers, that's gonna be busy!
Pictures courtesy and ©Blackett Photography
Clear your diary...
19th April: After a successful move into new premises, it's time to finally open the doors for Williams Brothers' Racing's first OCS Group Open Day:
Finding a suitable day was always going to be a challenge but the date is set and we hope that many drag racers, fans, hot rods, muscle cars and classics can come along on Saturday 5th May. OCS Paint and Williams Bros Racing have become very highly-regarded and are responsible for many stunning cars that have emerged from their workshops, many of which will be on display at the event including Fast Company, Jon Webster's Pro Mod Mustang, Jon will also have his fantastic Ford pick-up three as well. 00 Heaven, the Doignie and Lane multiple-Championship winning Vauxhall Victor, James Oliver's stunning Firebird Formula along with his WBR built '32 Ford, Allan Davies' Top Fuel bike along with WBR apprentice Louis Davies and his 8.50 Bike, and SPRC Pro ET Championship-winning WBR Chevelle to name but a few.
There will be absolutely loads of project cars for you to see from '50s pick-ups, vans, E-Type Jags, '30s hot rods, muscle cars, the list goes on and you will be surprised at some of the cars we will be showing, but you will have to come along and see for yourselves. You will also have a chance to see inside our engine dyno room, main engine shop, spray booth and main workshops. Knowing some of the people attending the car park will be a show of its own as many of our customers and friends will be bringing along a wide and diverse range of vehicles.
We will have live music performed by The Whatevers, a local band who will be on stage for two forty five-minute sets, burger van, ample parking and loads of other attractions including some of our suppliers on hand including Snap-on Tools, Earls Performance Products, Webster Race Engineering, Topspeed Automotive and more. Knowing Dan and Nic Williams, things will probably get fairly noisey with various engine fire-ups during the day.
The day runs from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. We are located just off the A5 four miles north of Towcester, Northamptonshire. It will be signposted on the day but please check out our Facebook page for more details as more attractions are being added almost daily.
Swift snippets.
19th April: Martin Black has been in touch to say that at the weekend he spoke to some of those involved in running drag racing in Spain. "These guys are really struggling out here and have been since 2009", says Martin. "Are there any racers out there who would be interested in travelling to Spain and putting our sport on the map in 2019?". If you are interested in helping the Spanis racing contingent then drop Martin a line at greenlightshirts@gmail.com.
Editor's note: Apologies for the delay in getting this news update posted, which was due to a perfect storm of laptop problems and non-materialising forwarded E-Mails. All sorted now.
Bank Holiday threesomes.
19th April: Paul Marston has been in touch with an update on Gearhead Garage No Prep Nationals 2 which takes place at Rockingham Dragstrip on 7th May:
Advance spectator tickets are now available from Rockingham's on-line ticket provider at rockingham.seetickets.com/. Tickets are £10 in advance and £12 on the gate. Gates open at 08:00 and racing starts at 09:00.
The event at Rockingham Dragstrip is part of a three motorsport-activity event named RD3. Drag racing takes place in front of the main grandstand, the Drift Arena is in the outer paddock and the National Circuit plays host to a Track Day. Your ticket allows you entry to all three. More details from the Rockingham web site at www.rockingham.co.uk.
Rockingham Dragstrip track action offers No Prep Nationals 2: Heads Up, No Time, No Speed, grass-roots, Street Outlaw-style flashlight start racing at its best. The fastest No Prep racers in the country are attending for a prize fund which just keeps growing. Someone is going to go home considerably richer: at No Prep Nationals 1 at North Weald in 2017 Dave Wiggins went home with £1250 cash for his day's work, the winner at Rockingham will be taking more than that and a very substantial trophy. The next class is Grudge / Call Out in which you pick your opponent and how much you want to race for, again heads-up. Details can be found on the entry form. Lastly No Prep, No Time RWYB, anyone can enter. We are now welcoming bikes and karts.
For more details and entry forms, E-Mail pmdragracing@gmail.com, Like our Facebook page Rockingham Drag Strip, or call or text me on 07831 650230.
Swift snippets.
18th April: Geoff Stilwell asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to US former Top Fuel racer and his dear friend Marvin Graham, and also to legendary US racer Tommy Ivo who is 82 today. Our pleasure Geoff, have the best of days guys.
The Hustler, new in Town.
17th April: The European Nostalgia Funny Car contingent has increased by one courtesy of the UK's
Paul Harris who has acquired the Chi-Town Hustler FC from Troy Martin in the USA. The plan is for the Dodge Omni to make
its first appearance at Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway in July.
"My first visit to Santa Pod was in 1972", Paul told Eurodragster.com. "I have come and gone over the years. I lost count of the stuff we ran! I used to be involved with Doc Claydon, I was on his Fuel Altered team then ran the Willys, and worked with John Sultuna on the black Manta. I had a couple of street cars, including a '71 Barracuda convertible. I'd drive to the track, put the hood up, put slicks on it, put on my crash helmet and run twelves. Then I'd put the tyres back on, put the top down, and go home. I stupidly sold it - I think it's in Norway now!"
Paul said that he had wanted a Funny Car for a long time. "I am quite friendly with Dennis Priddle", he said. "I talked about getting a car. I purchased one of the Budweiser cars which was driven by Harlan Thompson, bought it as a roller with a Ken Cox chassis and an '82 Trans Am body. In fact I still own it. I spent a lot of time looking to make it a race car. I went to see Rob Loaring and Nick Davies at ICE Automotive, I walked in and Rob looked at me and said "I know you! Didn't you wrench for John Claydon?". We talked about the logistics of getting the car up to race spec but they said would be post-2018 whatever.
"I thought more about the logistics and just after Christmas I told my wife that I was going to start browsing the net and I found the Hustler on Racing Junk. I looked at other cars, including one of Paul Romine's. I left Troy Martin an E-Mail and he got back to me. At that point the Hustler was sold, in Outlaw Funny Car set-up, but the guy let him down. I said to Troy that we don't have a class for Outlaw, could it be run as a Nostalgia Funny Car? He said that it used to be a Nostalgia FC, he would have to buy some parts to get it back to Nostalgia spec, but yes. When Troy said he could do it I said "Let's do it" - even down to the 34½" slicks!
"The chassis is a 2016 Conode, the motor is John Force with Schumacher rods and pistons. I have a spare motor which is identical even down to the camshaft grind. I bought as much as I could!"
Having been purchased in January the Hustler is in a container and headed for the UK where it will be readied for its first outing at Dragstalgia. "When the car arrives we will check the car over", said Paul. "Troy said that it is pretty much ready to run, we just need to check the bearings and reset the clutch, that is how confident he is. But we will probably take it to Dave Milam who is a friend, a racer and a bloody good engineer.
"The plan is to have Troy over to drive the car at Dragstalgia. He will be bringing his crew Ken and Tom. He will set the car up and put it down the track at Dragstalgia, then will run me through the procedures and put in a user-friendly tune so that I can get used to the car. I won't drive at Dragstalgia, I will be licencing at a later date. The crowd at Dragstalgia have come to see full passes, they don't want to be bored by me sodding around!"
Swift snippets.
17th April: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 2 of the official entry list for the FIA/FIM Main Event which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 25th-28th May. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. You can find the official Main Event entry forms on the Information link of the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
Back to the Funny Car theme, albeit present-day, and the Drag Racing Europe Blog has been updated with interviews with Top Methanol Funny Car racers: the returning final FIA European Top Methanol FC Champion Johnny Oksa and the taking-up-where-he-left-off-last-year Sandro Bellio of Eurodragster.com sponsor Dyno Unlimited. You can check it out courtesy of our good buddy Remco Scheelings at www.dragracingeurope.eu.
Geoff Stilwell of 7707 Salt Shaker Land Speed team tells us that US Top Fuel Dragster star Clay Millican has joined the team and will be present at Speed Week in Bonneville in August. Geoff has just launched a Facebook page for 7707 which you can check out by clicking here.
Swift snippets.
15th April: We have two spy pictures for you today. The first came with the words "Pipe of peace ready to smoke with the gods of traction"...
...whilst the second came with the words "Coming home". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
Feature: 2018 March Meet.
13th April: The latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with
Lucas Oil Products is photo-journalist Steve Moxley's account
of the recent Good Vibrations March Meet in Bakersfield.
You can take a look by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Web site updates.
13th April: In a one-off entry in his former Racer Blog, Eurodragster.com sponsor Derek Flynn explains why he and wife Fiona will no longer be sponsoring drag racing. You can check it out by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
FIA/FIM Main Event entry update.
11th April: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for sending us Version 1 of the official entry list for the FIA/FIM Main Event, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 25th-28th May and which is the first round of the FIA European Championships and the first and second rounds of the FIM European Championships as well as a UK and/or SPRC Championship round for Comp Eliminator, Gearhead Garage UK Super Pro ET, Modurstang Pro ET, Super Comp, Terry Gibbs Super Gas Shootout 2018, Super Street, Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator and Lucas Oil Junior Dragster.
You can check out the Main Event entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Standard-rate entry closes on Friday 27th April after which date entry, if accepted, may be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can fill in and submit or download the official Main Event entry forms via the Information link of the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
If you have any queries about Main Event entry then please get in touch with Ian on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.
Swift snippets.
11th April: Didier Canicave has been in touch to remind racers that they are welcome to attend the
Association Trophée Dragster race at Clastres Dragway on 23rd-24th June. "Clastres is located 120 miles
from Calais and 60 miles north of Paris", says Didier. "The quarter mile track is 1800 metres long and eleven metres
wide. The ATD staff do a great job of preparing the track and the Drag Race Team have a lot of experience on
timing systems and Christmas Trees. You can run in RWYB, Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Street Cars and Junior Dragster.
See you at the track". For more information or to enter please contact the ATD at
atd2003@free.fr or call +33 673 5836.
We were unfortunately unable to get near the server to post a news update yesterday (Tuesday) so we were unable to say a big Happy Birthday to Lizz Charman, Thomas Cook-Abbott, and Colin Theobald. Colin got in touch to add that yesterday was also Keith Williams' 60th birthday. "Hope you liked the velcro shoes from everyone at OCS Paint and Williams Bros Racing", says Colin. Hope you all had great days.
We have had a number of great suggestions for a name for Santa Pod Raceway's new counter-rotator sled. The final choice of winner of the £25 put up by Bob Roberts has now been placed in the hands of Your News Editor so his own suggestions won't be winning. We will keep entry open for another couple of days so if you would like to suggest a name for the counter-rotator then please drop us a line at editor@eurodragster.com.
Lucas Oil back The Doorslammers.
11th April: Lucas Oil Products UK have confirmed sponsorship of the Pro Street Class at The Doorslammers on 19th-20th May.
"As a big fan of this kind of racing, Lucas Oil was always favourite to sponsor one of the classes" says Les Downey, Managing Director of Lucas Oil Products (UK). "It was just too good an opportunity to miss."
Lucas Oil is a major sponsor of drag racing. Doorslammers is an exciting format and it's expected that the prize money will attract a lot of Lucas Oil-sponsored drivers. The Pro Street Class is an ideal showcase for the Lucas Oil brand:
"Every car on the track must be taxed and must have a valid MoT certificate", says Les. "It will attract lots of racing enthusiasts and that makes it very likely that lots of them will feature the Lucas Oil logo. Everybody watching will be able to buy the Lucas Oil range of oils, lubricants and additives from the Santa Pod Shop. It's a win-win for us."
Lucas Oil join other class sponsors VP Racing Fuels, Turbo Technics, Spal Automotive, OCS Group, Webster Race Engineering and EBC Brakes to complete the line-up of class sponsors for the event. For more information on The Doorslammers, the latest entry list, and to book tickets visit www.santapod.co.uk/doorslammers.php.
FIM Championship rule changes.
9th April: Many thanks to Job Heezen of the FIM European Drag Bike Commission for sending us news of recent rule changes for the 2018 FIM Europe Drag Bike Championships:
- DR10.10.7 Parachutes. New: Any use of the parachute in the opponents lane which jeopardises his or her safety can be reason for disqualification from the event.
- DR14.4.4.1 and DR14.6.21 Wheels. New: Both rules have been removed. For further information on the use of carbon wheels please read the
information on the FIM-E Championship Facebook page.
- DR14.7.5 Frame. New: Can be purpose-built of tubular construction or use a stock frame, utilising a rigid rear end. Riders must be able to reach all controls
safely and be able to place both feet flat on the ground. Wheelie bars are mandatory.
- DR14.3.6 and DR14.5.4 Body. New: Body to resemble manufacturer's stock bike whose engine is used.
A fund for Jack.
9th April: UK Super Pro ET racer Pete Walters of Eurodragster.com sponsor
Peter Walters Race Design writes on behalf of
the Super Pro ET Group that a fund has been set up to assist Jack Brewster with the repair of his much-loved Just Mustard
Pontiac, which was badly damaged in a crash at the Festival of Power:
As no racing took place, racers who entered the event have each agreed to donate their personal share of the prize fund to Jack. This will not be a regular occurrence; the racers agreed due to certain circumstances at the weekend, it is only fair, and I'm sure that you can all understand this.
In addition, there has also been a very generous £500 personal donation from Steve Johnson, as well as £200 from Derek Flynn and £100 from Richard Walters. If any other racer, supporter, sponsor or anyone else would like to add to this fund then please contact the Super Pro ET Group through Richard Walters either through Facebook or E-Mail reloaded881@hotmail.co.uk.
We all wish Jack a speedy recovery and hope that he can return to the track as soon as possible (Hear, hear - Ed).
Swift snippets.
9th April: Longtime Eurodragster.com supporter Bob Roberts has been in touch to offer a £25 prize for the best name for the new counter-rotator sled built for Santa Pod Raceway by Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars. Sleddy McSledface has already been submitted but if you would like to suggest a name for a shot at £25 then please drop us a line at editor@eurodragster.com.
No news update yesterday so we were unable to say a big Happy Birthday to UK Super Gas racer and sit-down comedian Simon Gough. Hope you had a great day Simon.
2018 British Hall of Fame Gala.
9th April: The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame is pleased to announce that its 2018 Gala will take place on Saturday 17th November at the historic Oatlands Park Hotel in Weybridge. The BDRHoF also welcomes two new Directors and a new adviser to the Board.
BHRHoF Chairman Stu Bradbury said "We are delighted to have made a firm booking for the dinner and awards ceremony which will once again take place in the York Suite of the hotel. The main focus of the event will be on inducting our new members of the Hall of Fame for 2018. There will be a Bench Racing session in the afternoon, and we will be welcoming an array of sponsors and special guests whom we will announce in due course."
At the 2017 Gala, British drag racing fans took part in a Bench Racing session sponsored by Beech Underwriting Agencies in the hotel's Terrazza, or terrace, during the afternoon before the evening's three-course dinner and prize ceremony. A large contingent of special guests included Connie Kalitta and Jim Oberhofer from Kalitta Motorsport and Steve Gibbs, former NHRA Competitions Director and now organiser of the Nitro Revival nostalgia gathering to take place this year in May at WeatherTech Raceway, Laguna Seca. Steve was presented with the Lucas Oil Global Achievement Award for his long career in the sport.
The BDRHoF is also announcing changes to its Board of Directors. Ian Hart has joined as Director in charge of sponsorship, and Nigel Payne is Director helping with transport arrangements. Ian and Nigel are known for their involvement in UK Junior Dragster racing, with sons Ruaridh Hart and Jordan Payne helping the BDRHoF alongside their racing activities. 2017 BDRHoF inductee Lesley Wright has joined as an Adviser and Guy Loveridge, previously a director, has become Adviser for Historic Motorsport.
The BDRHoF will be taking reservations for the 2018 Gala Awards Dinner by E-Mail at stuart@britishdragracinghof.co.uk or by telephone on 01933 279102. This year the dinner tickets, which include table wine, are competitively priced at £70, £5 more than 2017 due to price increases. The BDRHoF have managed to keep the same rates for hotel rooms of £115 for double rooms and £94 for single rooms which includes breakfast and VAT as well as parking. The event always sells out well in advance, so if you would like to join us for the occasion we suggest that you make your reservation sooner rather than later. On receiving your reservation you will be given the procedure to book rooms.
On-going news about the Gala, sponsors and other events in which the BDRHoF is involved is regularly published on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame web site at www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk, here on Eurodragster.com, and on Facebook and Twitter.
Test Day entry for FoP / BB racers.
7th April: Further to Thursday's news item regarding rescheduled events at Santa Pod Raceway, in order to redeem the promised free admission for the All Torque Test Day on Sunday 15th April please contact James Forster at james@santapod.com or 01234 782828 so that your new tickets can be arranged.
Please remember that this offer only applies to those entered but whose classes did not run eliminations at the Festival of Power, and those who were entered for Big Bang.
Swift snippets.
7th April: Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our own Simon for posting the post-Festival of Power points standings in the UK National Drag Racing and Santa Pod Racers Club Championships. You can check out the UK points on our OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page which you can reach by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Amazon is offering a Kindle-edition book Junior Dragster Racing - A Beginner's Guide. Written by Richard Chrichton the book covers equipment selection, techniques, technical details and racing tips designed to aid everyone, whether just curious or considering starting racing or seasoned racer who wants to understand more about the technical side. The download is £4 and can be purchased on Amazon by clicking here.
Many thanks to Mike Collins for sending us a preview of his column in the latest issue of Street Machine magazine, available if you are quick, plus for Nostalgia fans a Legends Edition featuring European fan favourite Harlan Thompson. Click on the images above for the PDF downloads.
Racer credits from SPRC.
6th April: Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall has been in touch with an important update for those racers who did not race at the Festival of Power and for those racers who had entered Big Bang:
After a very trying Festival of Power, and following consultation between SPRC and Santa Pod Raceway, it has been decided that racers whose classes did not get to run eliminations will receive a £50 credit towards any race meeting within the next twelve months. This will include the 2019 Festival of Power even though that event falls slightly outside the twelve month period.
Obviously this credit will not include those classes whose eliminations ran to conclusion.
SPRC and Santa Pod Raceway would like to take the opportunity to thank all of the racers and crew present for sticking with us during a very testing weekend for all concerned, and we look forward to much better weather and warmer temperatures the next time we meet.
Following on from Santa Pod Raceway's unfortunate but necessary announcement cancelling the racing aspect of Big Bang, and moving the date of the Festival part of Big Bang, all racers who have entered the Big Bang round of the UK National Drag Racing Championships will of course receive a full refund of their entry fees. Please note that this is only for racers entered for this event.
We are actively seeking an alternative date to allow us to run the missing round of the Championships. As soon as we have details of the proposed date, we will keep you informed via Eurodragster.com.
On behalf of the whole SPRC Committee, thank you for your understanding.
Swift snippets.
5th April: Many thanks to Andy Marrs for passing us the official Festival of Power timing data. You can check it out by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Derek Flynn, long-standing sponsor of both Eurodragster.com, and to former Top Fuel Dragster racer Kim Reymond. Have a great day, both.
As a result of yesterday's announcement by Santa Pod Raceway we have updated the schedules for our John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage and Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcam. You can take a look at our coverage schedule by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Santa Pod reschedule events.
5th April: Santa Pod Raceway have announced that they are rescheduling some of their forthcoming events, including the cancellation of the racing element of the rearranged Big Bang. Santa Pod Raceway CEO Keith Bartlett writes:
It will come as no surprise to any of you reading this that all of us here at Santa Pod had perhaps one of the most difficult Easter events for many years – if not the most difficult event ever! After a very difficult winter period in which we were unable to lay the new concrete track in the time-line we had hoped for - we were not only looking forward to some easy times, but hopefully towards having some clear weather windows to allow us to get the track prep completed to the standard we wanted. Alas and yet again the weather stepped in to prevent that in the build up to the Easter Festival of Power. May I add that this was the first Easter event where we have actively discouraged spectators and fans from turning up due to waterlogged fields.
We were not alone in this, as several other major motorsport venues had the same problems over the Easter weekend.
The early Easter brought with it numerous challenges for the Santa Pod venue and racers alike, both on and off the track; wet weather conditions in the run-up to the event meant that our fields very soon became difficult to cope with and the cold temperatures during the event had a direct effect on the new track.
The Sunday before Festival of Power saw a Peak Performance Test and Tune blessed with some rare sunshine, the heat that this instantly put into the surface of the track had a transformative effect; traction levels immediately increased and a few PBs were recorded. Our own Two Seater Dragster produced performances a whisker away from numbers recorded at the European Finals the previous September. This tells us that the new concrete track is sensitive to temperature in a way that the previous asphalt surface was not. As I said to many teams, drivers and riders over the weekend, the concrete track is going to behave very differently to our old asphalt track, especially in colder weather – and Easter was very cold and very wet.
We believe that traction issues experienced on Sunday were mainly down to the very low temperatures and how this affected the performance of the prep that had been applied leading into the event. Quite simply, the lower the temperature, the less effective the glue will be. You then must add to that, the fact that we are trying to prepare a virgin track to take rubber and all in cold conditions.
The concrete itself will take much longer to absorb heat so when the sun goes in after only a few hours on a cold day, the warmth in the surface dissipates very quickly. Conversely after a long period of warm sun, the concrete will retain heat as it has longer to soak the warmth up. This is just one of the ways in which concrete behaves differently, the track crew will constantly be learning lessons as we go through the season with the new track. As we move towards the busier period of the season the 2.6 to 3.7 degree temperatures we experienced at Easter will of course be a distant memory and all the processes involved in prepping the new surface will become much easier and reliable as things warm up.
The litany of weather related problems stemming from Easter includes the necessary re-scheduling of certain events: The Fast Show and Big Bang. Because of The Fast Show's heavy reliance on the camping and parking fields we have had to move the ever popular modified event to the end of the month where Big Bang was scheduled to be (though the MSA permitted round remains in place and the FWD and JDS classes will still run). Unfortunately, relocating The Fast Show to the Big Bang weekend will mean that the National rounds and racing element of Big Bang will have to be cancelled, this is not a decision we have taken lightly and we have never before pre-emptively cancelled a round but the weather cannot be ignored and we have little choice. There will now be an opportunity to get some track time on the weekend that Fast Show was originally scheduled for. We are now holding a late night RWYB followed by and All Torque Test Day on the vacated date.
The non track-based element of Big Bang (camping and evening entertainment) will join on to the new Doorslammers weekend and the Doorslammers event will now enjoy another day of testing with the track now opening on the Friday. We are also actively searching for ways to re-accommodate the racers that will lose a round of racing at a new date later in the season, with August being a possibility - we'll keep you posted on these efforts. All those racers who were entered and unable to run at Easter and those racers who will be losing a round at Big Bang will now qualify for free admission with their racer tickets on the 14th and 15th April test days (track fees will still apply).
| Date | Was | Now |
| Saturday 14th April | RWYB / Saturday Night Special | RWYB / Saturday Night Special |
| Sunday 15th April | The Fast Show | All Torque Test Day |
| Saturday 28th April | Big Bang | RWYB / Saturday Night Special |
| Sunday 29th April | Big Bang | The Fast Show |
| Friday 18th May | - | All Torque Test Day / Big Bang |
| Saturday 19th May | The Doorslammers | The Doorslammers / Big Bang |
| Sunday 20th May | The Doorslammers | The Doorslammers / Big Bang |
In closing all of us here at Santa Pod are very disappointed to find ourselves in this situation and making last minute changes to our events calendar – something we have never done before. But I can assure everyone that we are doing this with the best possible intentions for both the racers and spectators alike. We are always looking to improve the facility for both the racers and spectators and will continue to do so for many years to come. I have not invested £1,000,000 over the winter to do anything but improve Santa Pod, however sadly I cannot improve the weather – well not just yet – that's going to be our next big project. We have the staff - we just need to learn the rain dances required! I am sorry for all of you who had such a poor Easter at Santa Pod and those that will be missing out on racing at Big Bang, but I am sure that better times are ahead.
See you at the track.
Tanaka SFI 16.1 harness recall.
4th April: Many thanks to Maxim Spaans for letting us know that the SFI have announced that driver restraint assemblies manufactured and certified to SFI Specification 16.1 by Ruian Dragon or Ruian Dongjinlong, and sold under the Tanaka brand, have been found to be non-compliant. The use of these harnesses should be stopped immediately and they should be returned to Ruian Dongjinlong.
For full details please check out the SFI's Recall Notice, released last Monday, which you can read by clicking here (PDF format).
Big Bang entry update.
4th April: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for sending us Version 3 of the official entry list for Big Bang, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 28th-29th April and which is a Championship round for VW Pro, VW Sportsman, Outlaw Flat Four, Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster, 8.50 Bike (SPRC Championship), 9.50 Bike (SPRC Championship), ET Bike, Outlaw Anglia, Nostalgia Super Stock and the FWD Drag Series. You can check out the Big Bang entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Standard-rate entry closes this Friday, 6th April; entry after that date, if accepted, may be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can fill in and submit or download the official Big Bang entry forms via the Information link of the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
If you have any queries about Big Bang entry then please get in touch with Ian on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com.
3rd April: Following on from last Wednesday's announcement of the construction of a new European Championship-standard track at Kauhava in Finland, mentioned in last Thursday's Swift Snippets, Esko Raisvuo got in touch to give us some background:
The Finnish Hot Rod Association has signed a long-term co-operation agreement with very some wealthy people to have have a full-sized drag racing arena on their premises, which they purchased from the Air Force a couple of years ago. The Air Force had had their flying school there since 1929 and the local people got mad because the noise meant they had no lives. Hawks and Hornets used to fly day and night, but now it is too quiet.
The idea is to have a race track and arena only. Quarter mile and standing mile events, no circuit racing. This is to regenerate the area and to increase tourism. Since everything is in working order we have hotels and common rooms available, a great kitchen, plenty of saunas, showers and an indoor hangar for a couple of thousand people to party - or to find shelter from elements.
This place is located practically in the middle of the countryside town of Kauhava. There are supermarkets and service stations within a mile. The railway station is about two kilometres from the burnout box. It is about three hours' train trip from Helsinki Airport and other cities, travelling smoothly in the restaurant wagon, and five hours' drive from Helsinki. PowerPark, one of the biggest amusement parks in the north, is within twenty kilometres. The area itself is the most active Hot Rodding area.
Naturally we have co-operated with local authorities and businesses. This is a place to stay for decades - very long-term and very serious.
A white Dark Horse.
3rd April: With the exception of the weather, the Festival of Power was a good meeting for the Championship-holding Dark Horse team who added a gorgeous and instantly-successful Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET Mercury Comet to the Modurstang Pro ET Mustang. Brian Huxley writes:
The Mustang had a leaking oil cooler, which we found and fixed after discovering a oil slick under the car on Saturday night. On Sunday we made our first run on the new track and did well, with a 9.45 dial-in I ran 9.64 which we thought was good, we had no problem with the track we were just being careful. So we were well pleased, especially with a fresh engine and axle thanks to Tim Hines and Wayne Allman.
Marc Huxley, driving his dad's freshly-imported Mercury Comet, did well in a completely unknown and untried car. The car was built in the States but had never raced.
So it was a completely unknown quantity in qualifying. We dialled in a hopeful 14.00 and ran 15.70, we thought the axle was slipping so we tried it again on the next
run and the axle started to work OK as the car ran 14.14. We were all stoked, we couldn't believe it.
Getting to the final and winning in a car which had never raced has make the Dark Horse teams well pleased, to say the least. Congratulations to Marc for being our guinea pig test driver and thanks and praise go to the Santa Pod team and crew for working very hard to give us what we got. We think that the track is going to work just fine, well done everybody.
Many thanks to our sponsors Lucas Oil Products, ETB Tyres Worcester, Sneddon and Sons Roofing, Bradfords Building Supplies and Tool Hire, Worcester Produce, Cars Car Sales and Servicing Worcester, M F Hydraulics, B A Irons Block Paving, Adley Developments Ltd, Forge Motorsport, Przym Clothing, Pipercross Air Filters, Hashtagsixty6 and Huxley Motorsport.
50 years of John Woolfe Racing, Part 1.
3rd April: Dave Riswick, CEO of Eurodragster.com sponsor John Woolfe Racing, is celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of involvement in drag racing as Easter 1968 marks the date of the first appearance of the JWR name and colours on a drag racing car. Below is the first of ten instalments of the story of John Woolfe Racing's involvement with our sport. Mouse-over any picture for a caption:
It was early 1966 when the formula for permanent drag racing began. Londoner John Woolfe was 33 and had been racing powerful cars for the past ten years. Most, eventually became icons in motor racing history.
Drag racing was relatively unheard of to the general public until Santa Pod opened up and the seed of accelerating began to germinate with Woolfe. By the end of the year John had answered an ad in Autosport placed by a well-known engineer, John Tojeiro, credited for designing the AC Ace Sports Car which developed into the AC Cobra. John and John had known each other as far back as the late '50s when they were competing with Jaguars around the UK tracks. Woolfe purchased not one but two 427 Ford full house AC Shelby Cobras from Mr Tojeiro with the help of his race partner Arnold Burton. Soon, Cobra Chassis Number CSX 3167 would enter the Guinness Book of Records as the world's quickest accelerating road car. It currently resides at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu.
In early September of 1967 Mark Stratton's Hustler Drag Racing Team were celebrating, having just clinched the British Drag Racing Championship Super Eliminator Title. At the same time, Woolfe had set the Fastest Time of Day at the Brighton Speed Trials in one of his seven litre Cobras. John had read about an up and coming drag race meeting in early October and entered his Cobra for the Last Chance Meeting at Santa Pod. Things were never the same again. John got his doors blown off of the AC Shelby by Mark's little 283 Chevy BSA Scout.
Well this just had to be the best thing to have happened to drag racing. John was so shattered by the realisation of the events that had just unfolded, and being the gentleman he was, he went over to Mark in the pits and introduced himself and started asking questions as to how a mighty AC Cobra could be beaten by a little small block Chevy. The drag racing bug had bitten and this led to John sponsoring Mark and his Hustler team in the from of financing a brand new 427 Chevrolet L-88 engine.
At the start of the 1968 drag racing season John Woolfe Racing's blue and yellow race colours, along with the now famous Woolfe Head, were firmly written into drag racing. It represented the very first semi-professional drag racing team in the UK and things began to happen. John was also keen to drive this Stratton-built beast, and in early May Woolfe took the BSA-based Altered to Silverstone fitted with this new Big Block Chevy V8 for a press interview with Motor magazine, plus some other machinery in his stable and a full three-page colour feature was written about this new venture. Many roundy-roundy racers took note and soon there were some very interesting entries appearing at the Pod.
In that year's final, Mark drove Hustler, the John Woolfe Racing-sponsored seven-litre Chevy BSA Scout and won the British Drag Racing Super Eliminator Trophy for the second year running.
There were other projects within the same year with John and Mark. One in the form of a twin-engine Chevy V8 dragster, Hustler II and this too was featured in the May Motor magazine article from Silverstone. In October John entered the Stratton-built twin 283 Chevy engine dragster in the over eight-litre class of the International Sprint Organisation's World Records Weekend held at RAF Elvington in Yorkshire. Stratton set the firing order of the two engines and timed them as a V16, and as the Standing Start quarter mile record for over eight litres had never been established, all John had to do was make the two way passes and the record was his. Mark was there in support of John and the event went smoothly. John Woolfe established the FIA World Record of 73.02 mph in 12.33 seconds. Not much to shout about but nevertheless!
Before the end of first year of sponsoring the Hustler Drag Racing Team, John formally announced his intentions to continue support for 1969 in the form of a 427 Chevy-powered Reliant GTE. This too became a winner for the Hustler team in the hands of a young West Country lad: Dennis Priddle...
Swift snippets.
3rd April: We had one or two other things to think about yesterday so we didn't get round to 'fessing up about this
year's April Fool, which was Sunday's Pit Note featuring Hayley Fyfe bemoaning officially-sanctioned frumpiness in our
John Woolfe Racing-sponsored
Festival of Power
coverage. If that story had been true then Your News Editor would have been at the front of the mob armed with a pitchfork or torch.
Apologies to any SJW who took the Pit Note seriously. Sunday's conditions did not allow us to post our decoy April Fools so Roger Goring
building a Jet Altered and Nitro FM introducing phone-ins at the FIA/FIM Main Event will have to wait until next year. A big Thank You
to Hayley for readily agreeing to our putting a tissue of whoppers in her mouth, and for posing for a picture for added authenticity.
Minor point of order: If others can get upset on social media then we can get upset on here. If others can criticise us on social media then we can criticise them on here, however infrequently we have historically done such things, although we will not stoop to the disgusting and Social Media policy-breaching language with which we were described yesterday. Anyone who wishes to discuss should feel free to E-Mail.
Web site updates.
3rd April: First with the Festival of Power-related picture updates is The Mad Welshman whose pictures from the Peak Performance Day of Sunday 25th March are now available for viewing at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.
Not far behind is Paul Bryan whose shots from the race proper you can check out at www.flickr.com/photos/paulbryan_photopedia.
Gold RV pull Perfect Award support.
2nd April: As if spending several days wetter than a haddock's lingerie and colder than a bucket of penguin crap then seeing much-loved racers suffer accidents were not reason enough to be upset, this morning we have been informed by Derek and Fiona Flynn that they have withdrawn the support of Gold RV from the Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award with immediate effect. This is due to grief which they received from racers over the weekend; we are not aware of the full details but it must have been bad to produce this outcome and it is an absolute disgrace.
Whoever it was who tipped the balance: well done, we hope you are proud of yourselves. As things stand that is the end of the Perfect ET Award. Thank you so much for kicking the teeth of a couple who have put thousands of pounds of sponsorship and prize money into the sport and who have supported Eurodragster.com for a very long time. We hope that you also feel proud that you have robbed your fellow racers of hundreds of pounds of prize money this season.
Anyone who even thinks about getting in touch with Tog and playing the victim, it is probably best that you don't. Anyone who plays the victim on Facebook, be warned that Tog may break his usual rule and post a response. And if Tog doesn't then any supporter of Eurodragster.com should feel free to do so on his behalf.
Derek has stressed his and Gold RV's continued support and sponsorship of Eurodragster.com as a site; a big Thank You to Derek and Fiona for this and for their long support both of Eurodragster.com and of the Perfect ET Award until some ingrate screwed it up for you all.
Festival of Power results.
1st April: Congratulations to the winners at the weekend's Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway:
Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET: Marc Huxley (14.50) 14.4818/81.22 def. John McGarrigle (18.95) 18.9016/72.49 b/o
Lucas Oil Junior Dragster: Jordan Payne (8.04) 8.0527/80.93 def. Caitlin Wilson (8.07) 8.1548/81.81
VW Sportsman: Polly Judge (15.65) 15.7185/90.87 def. Jon Crawford (16.40) 16.5136/85.36
8.50 Bike: Jake Mechaell 8.5349/146.16 def. Jay Roe 8.4947/142.09 b/o
9.50 Bike: Dave Bowe 9.6834/140.74 def. Lewis Burgess 9.6619/137.37
ET Bike: Bradley Head (10.00) 11.4682/132.86 bye
Supertwin Top Gas: Jack Shook 10.0760/132.45 bye
No qualifying was possible on Friday or Saturday due to the weather and yesterday's planned one-shot qualifier and eliminations were abandoned for all but the above classes due to the conditions. Modurstang Pro ET racer Nigel Green and Gearhead Garage UK Super Pro ET racer Jack Brewster suffered crashes; Nigel was unhurt whilst Jack was taken to hospital as a precaution after reporting back pain.
You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Festival of Power reports, results, pit notes and galleries by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please join Tog in a big Thank You to Pit Reporter Simon, Photographers Julian and Kirstie, and Off-Track Photographer Diana for their hard work and lack of complaint in what have been very unpleasant working conditions these last couple of weekends.
Earlier news
