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14th June: Dave Riswick writes to ask Eurodragster.com readers to reflect upon the fifieth anniversary of a tragic incident which completely changed sponsor John Woolfe Racing forever:
On 14th June 1969 John fatally crashed his 917 Porsche in the first lap of the 37th Grand Prix of Endurance held at Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France and the fate of what would happen next was held in the balance.
When the French flag was dropped indicating the start of the twenty four-hour race John ran across the track, jumped into his new 917 Porsche sports car, and headed out with forty one other drivers in contention.
Near the end of the first lap while negotiating the notorious White House bend esses, John got two wheels on the grass verge and lost control. The Porsche spun and hit the bank on the opposite side of the track. He was thrown from the car and died from his injuries. John's accident caused the traditional Le Mans start to be forever abolished, the following year as most drivers would start the race without fastening their seat belts to save precious time at the start of the event. John was no exception and it was felt that this may have contributed to his death.
He was only 37, a tragic end for so many whom he touched with his gentleman kindness.
To highlight John's career is to write a book about all the things he accomplished. But let's just concentrate on John's keen interest in drag racing. Almost from the start back in the early 60s he was exposed to the elements of acceleration and the sport of drag racing: he drove many high-powered race cars in Sprints, Hill Climbs, and Speed events long before there was such a place to call the home of drag racing.
From the late 50s and up to the middle of the 60s John had competed with C, D and E type Jaguars, Lola Elvas and TVR Granturas, and by 1967 had graduated to the big stuff in the form of the now-legendary AC Cobras. He found the Brighton Speed Trials the ideal setting to exhibit the raw power of these British hybrids by entering not one but two of the famous seven-litre Holman and Moody versions in the annual event which took place along the promenade known as the Madeira Drive on the Brighton sea front. John's Le Mans-prepared Shelby Cobras took Fastest Time of Day and Second Fastest Time of day.
The next stop was Santa Pod's Last Chance Meeting in early October. This was the day when John came across the sport of drag racing and it bit him hard, especially when he was shut down by a Small Block Chevy. That Chevy was Mark Stratton's Hustler altered, driven on the day by Kenneth Blake from Texas, one of the three Americans in Mark's drag racing team who was from Upper Heyford, a nearby American NATO base.
John was hooked, so much so that he offered to sponsor the Hustler team and in doing so he provided the latest Chevrolet 427 L-88 V8 engine to replace the small 283. The intention was to enter the Hustler in the 1968 Brighton Speed Trials, but not before Mark won the 1968 Super Eliminator Trophy at Santa Pod's National Championships a week earlier. However, at Brighton, John experienced clutch problems and retired the car. In spite of the setback he knew the potential was there.
This was a major influence in the sport in the late 60s. While campaigning his V8-powered sports cars around Europe John had engaged Mark to construct a twin-engine V8 Chevrolet Dragster for entry in the ISO's World Speed Records Weekend held at RAF Elvington in Yorkshire in the Fall of '68. With this John established an outright World Record for the Standing Start Quarter Mile for the over 8 litre class.
The results intensified John's passion for drag racing and he encouraged the Hustler team to go to work on one of the very first Funny Cars to be raced in the UK. This took the form of a Reliant Scimitar GTE powered by that famous L-88 V8 and was placed in the hands of Dennis Priddle. But John had passed away before he could see Dennis win his first Championship.
In the weeks following John's untimely death, the late Arnold Burton set the bar for me to follow. It was at this point, along with the support of Arnold, that I took on the responsibility of honouring John's intentions and ambitions with drag racing.
More than fifty years on and John Woolfe Racing continues to fly the flag in John's honour, supporting and encouraging the sport. With this thought many drag racers and fans alike have felt the good John Woolfe placed on the sport. May we take a moment to reflect?
First of the 2020 calendars.
14th June: Artist Paul Whitehouse says that he has often been asked if he has considered producing a calendar of his drag racing paintings and is now soliciting expressions of interest for a 2020 calendar:
The image shows a sample which I have had made so that I can get an idea of overall size and quality. This is A3 and wall hanging and features some of my paintings of Nostalgia Funny Cars, Altereds and Fuellers. Images for each month are the Apache FC, Pure Hell Altered, Thunderbird, Bradford Altered, Chi Town Hustler FC, Olavi Knuutinen FC, Bubblegum Capri FC, Tudor Rose, Venom FC, Mr Revell, The Hawaiian and my latest piece featuring Michael 'Doc Stinger' Mugrauer's '71 Dodge Challenger FC.
If there is enough interest then I'm planning on getting this organised towards the end of this year and release as a calendar for 2020. Please register interest via E-Mail at pwhitehouse3@aol.com or mobile 07432 564110, so that I can get an idea of numbers.
For details of all my drag racing paintings, prints and commission details please visit my web site at www.paulwhitehouseart.com.
Kauhava: All you need to know.
13th June: A big Thank You to Esko Raisvuo for sending us a definitive
guide to Kauhava in Finland, the site of the FHRA Nitro Nationals, the next FIA and FIM
European Championship rounds:
Kauhava is located on the west side of central Finland. The track is located 2 km from railway station and town services (shops, fuel etc) are available within a mile. Seinäjoki town is 40 km away and Lapua Village is in between. It is easy to find hotels or B&B places if you spend few moments on booking websites.
The picture at www.lskbusinesspark.fi is old so doesn't show the track.
Racers should reckon the following time for driving from ferries, or from the north of Sweden, including breaks:
From closest north Sweden border: 6 hours
Naantali (from Kapellskär Finnlink ferry): 5 hours
Turku (from Stockholm ferry): 5 hours
Hanko: (from German freight ferries): 7 hours
Helsinki area: (from Estonian, German and Swedish ferries): 6 hours
Southern Russian border stations: 7 hours
The most convenient flights to try to find are to Helsinki and Tampere airports.
Car rental is bit expensive due to high taxes, but reasonable if you want do road trips to see other places. Most lakes in Finland have public beaches if you look or ask the wild local natives. I can compile advice and tips on other places, what to see in Finland, if anyone wants to know about holiday activities. One of biggest northern amusement parks, the Power Park, is about 20 km from the track. It's a very good idea to spend extra days in area, especially if you have kids, and the owners are actively helping us.
Trains travel from Helsinki to Kauhava in three to four hours. It's holiday season, so I suggest pre-booking at www.vr.fi.
The Lentohotelli (flight hotel) is probably already fully booked, at least for the better rooms. I believe there is still a chance for B&B.
You can find the invitation at www.dragracing.eu and the entry forms at www.dragracing.eu/event_details.asp?id=481.
The track itself is now fully finished. The first eighth mile has 80 cm barriers and the rest one metre.
The burnout area, start line and out to sixty feet are concrete. The rest is special asphalt created for this project and for the future. Traction has been pretty consistent and great so far.
FHRA and Tierp Arena's track crew will take care of preparation. Good traction and rapid clean-ups.
We have full 24/7 security and first aid in area.
There should be a stable electrical network at the Nitro Nationals. It is an ex-Air Force base so just the local network to expand.
The law now allows adults to drink in separate grandstand area with commercial service. The pit area already has its own bar. At night we offer the Hangar Club, where about 2000 people can easily have good time inside.
The camping area can host an unlimited number of caravans and tents. More or less commercial management, by the site owners. Again, as it is ex-military, there plenty of showers, sauna and catering areas available. Real food at good prices, and teams can pre-order full catering straight to their pits. Teams can also pre-order private portable toilets. The race traveller who has a few extra clothes, tent etc needs no more than an open, happy mind, a pocketful of cash and everything is sorted. The track site has everything. Card payments work fine.
Finland has good 4G wireless throughout, I don't believe there are any big drops in performance.
Please address VIP enquiries to www.lentohotelli.fi; officials, media etc, please contact www.fhra.fi. Media accreditation is available at www.fhra.fi/median-akkreditoituminen-kisoihin.
Advance tickets at a discount are available at www.tiketti.fi/nitro-nationals-2019-lsk-business-park-kauhava-tickets. Gate prices will be higher.
The event will be streamed live at www.livestream.com/fhra.
Swift snippets.
13th June: Donna Finnegan and the Fireforce Jet team asked us to say a big Happy 80th Birthday for today (Thursday) to Roy Webb of the Split Second Jet Dragster team. Our pleasure, have a great day Roy.
Wouldn't it be Wobberly.
12th June: Darren Prentice of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch to announce the winner of the Name the Ale contest which was run at the 2018 UK National Finals with all proceeds going to Bloodwise:
Drum roll please... the winners are the White Noise Drag Racing Team, and introducing to you for your drinking pleasure Wobberly Bob, an IPA 4.0% beer which has three light hops including simcoe, and a generous finish of citra right at the end, leading to a light hoppy taste, and a lovely lingering finish (and it will sometimes go too quick - Ed).
As ever the Potbelly Brewery in Kettering have generously donated the first barrel, with all proceeds going straight into this years fund-raising efforts for Bloodwise.
At Dragstalgia be sure to make your way to Fuelers Bar to taste Wobberly Bob at our very own Beer Festival and support Bloodwise at the same time.
Tierp Internationals stats and more.
12th June: Thanks to our good buddy Andy Marrs for forwarding us some interesting personal stats from the Tierp Internationals:
Tethys was the fiftieth racer to win a round of FIA Top Fuel Dragster
Micke Gullqvist reached 150 round wins in Pro Modified and is the first FIA racer to reach 150 in a single class
Marrs also tells us that the event featured new side-by-side records:
Pro Modified speed: Andreas Arthursson / Freddy Fagerström 412.21 kmh / 382.17 (256.14 mph / 237.47)
Top Fuel Bike ET: Filippos Papafilippou / Rikard Gustafsson 5.8074 / 5.8588
Top Fuel Bike speed: Filippos Papafilippou / Rikard Gustafsson 376.04 / 397.94 (233.66 / 247.27)
Pro Stock Bike ET: Kalle Lyrén / Fredrik Fredlund 7.0050 / 7.0155
Pro Stock Bike speed: Kalle Lyrén / Fredrik Fredlund 311.78 / 309.81 (193.73 / 192.51)
FInally thanks to Marrs for an updated table of European Bests featuring those records set at Tierp. You can check it out by clicking here or by clicking on the European and UK Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
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.
Tierp Internationals results, points.
10th June: Congratulations to the winners at the weekend's Tierp Internationals at Tierp Arena:
FIA Top Fuel Dragster: Anita Mäkelä 4.0344/383.52 def. Micke Kågered 5.9586/188.61
FIA Top Methanol: Jonny Lagg 5.5336/433.04 def. Silvio Strauch 5.4893/414.75
FIA Pro Modified: Jan Ericsson 5.8365/389.05 def. David Vegter 7.0792/234.99
FIA Pro Stock: Jimmy Ålund 6.6075/338.35 def. Michael Malmgren 6.6204/333.75
FIM Europe/EDRS Pro Nordic MC Top Fuel Bike: Filippos Papafilippou 6.6394/369.61 def. Rikard Gustafsson 6.7035/266.80
FIM Europe/EDRS Pro Nordic MC Supertwin: Marcus Christiansen 6.4867/344.17 def. Gert-Jan Laseur 8.0902/187.37
FIM Europe/EDRS Pro Nordic MC Pro Stock Bike: Kalle Lyrén 6.9875/307.34 def. Fredrik Fredlund 8.5066/161.00
EDRS Pro Nordic MC Super Street Bike: Vesa Ruhanen 8.0391/212.77 bye, Anders Blanck broke
Comp Eliminator: Lars-Georg Johansson (7.49) 10.4457/135.88 def. Jens Eklund (7.33) 15.0951/117.31
Super Comp: Micke Nilsson 9.2672/205.87 def. Pontus Garefelt 9.9368/166.20
Super Gas: Christer Uhlin 9.9225/206.89 def. Kenny Åsberg 9.8426/196.08 DQ b/o
Super Street: Uffe Lundgren 11.0646/165.04 def. Christer Gustafsson DQ left before lights ran
Stock/Super Stock: Mathias Munther (11.11) 11.1553/178.87 def. Lars Johansson (12.41) 12.3993/171.21 DQ b/o
Pro Street: Peter Trång 7.6413/288.932 def. Ossi Oikarinen 7.6197/249.31
Street: Sami Holm 8.6074/253.28 def. Maurtiz Rådberg 8.5764/238.41 DQ b/o
Junior Dragster: Eskil Dahls (7.90) 7.9332/.130.75 def. Atle Poolsar (7.90) 7.9950/132.00
Super Comp Bike: Rasmus Östlund 8.5462/244.57 def. Peter Svensson 8.6352/250.81
Super Gas Bike: Trygve Kjærstad Helgerud 9.7372/204.70 def. Jenni Pekkarinen 9.4369/223.75 DQ b/o
Junior Drag Bike: John Rolfstad (6.90) 6.9862/145.790 def. Seth Friström (6.90) 6.7507/159.62 DQ b/o
Subject to official ratification the following records were set. Congratulations to:
FIM Europe Top Fuel Bike ET: 5.783 seconds, Filippos Papafilippou
FIM Europe Pro Stock Bike ET record: 6.969 seconds, Kalle Lyrén
FIM Europe Pro Stock Bike speed record: 311.78 kmh/193.73 mph, Kalle Lyrén
Many thanks to Åsa Kinnemar and to Ian Marshall for sending us the post-event points 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 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, 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.
A big Thank You from Tog to Simon for his hard work on the pit notes, to Oscar Lindgren, Lotta Ahlgren and Maja Rapp for their help with timing matters, to Lena Perés and Remco Scheelings for the supply of photographs, and to Mike Kraaij for additional pit notes. On the home front a big Thank You to Spencer Tramm, Andy Marrs and Robin Jackson for proof-reading, maths-checking and Personal Bests.
The Hobbit retires.
7th June: Dragstalgia is now only a few short weeks away, and Keith Lee brings us the latest news on the historic bike entry, which is shaping up well for this much-awaited event at Santa Pod Raceway on 12th-14th July:
We are well on course for the best entry ever. It is something special to see these old drag bikes come together to blast down the strip in the NSA Shootout, but the upcoming event will be notable also for marking the end of an era, as we announce the retirement this year of one of the best loved machines in the sport. John Hobbs is one of the legends of drag racing, and the Hobbit, his supercharged double Weslake, notched up many race wins during a spectacular career. After an original retirement in the early eighties, John was persuaded to pull the bike out from under his workbench to enjoy a much extended second lease of life for the 1700cc machine.
From the very first Dragstalgia event in 2011, John and the Hobbit have been the star attraction on two wheels. The bike takes a lot of upkeep, and it has
come to the point now, with John in his early seventies, to accept that he is reaching the point that riding and maintaining the bike is becoming too physically
demanding for it to continue. Always known for his clear decision making, John has decided that this year's appearance at Dragstalgia will be his last one riding
the iconic bike, as 2019 brings down the curtain for the Hobbit. The old race team, who supported John back in the bike's racing years, will all be present at
Dragstalgia to join in - including second rider Jonny Munn, who is flying over from Australia to be there.
The good news is that it will not be the last time that we will see John himself in action. He will still be blasting down the quarter on his blown 500 Triumph-powered Olympus, which he faithfully recreated back in 2012. He still enjoys riding the lightweight twin - and we look forward to seeing him over the coming years.
In addition to a fine cross section of machinery we have enjoyed previously, I am very pleased that there will be a number of first time entrants for this year's meet. These include the ex-Chris Richards, Terry Sidebottom, Charlie Butterworth 750 Triumph, which is currently being fettled for a return to the track by new owner Graham Sykes. I am also pleased to announce that Graham will be displaying his fabulous new Force of Nature steam-powered rocket bike in the historic marquee, which is back this year, and which will display more historic bikes. Dragstalgia regular Justin Newell will be making much noise with the much-anticipated return of the rebuilt Mick Hand 250 Honda, which is looking very good. Joining them should be Dave Woodard, who has been working hard on rebuilding the 500 Triumph, which Mick Hand's longtime friend Barry Eastman first raced in the early seventies. Sadly, Barry himself, who was partner with Mick Hand in the Storm Funny Bike, passed away earlier this year, so it will be a fitting tribute to see this bike appear on the strip once more. A new French entry is a recreation of the Nira Johnson Triumph, which competed at the 1965 Dragfest as part of the US team.
While one bike bids a fond farewell at Dragstalgia, the scene looks set fair for a continuing feast of two-wheel Nostalgia racing. Be there to enjoy the sight and sound of the Hobbit one final time.
Arthursson plays home fixture.
6th June: This weekend Sweden's Andreas Arthursson and the PPF Racing Pro Modified team will be racing at their home track, Tierp Arena, ninety minutes from HQ. Ulf Stadig writes:
The team's first Championship round at Santa Pod Raceway ended in the semi-finals with a red light against Micke Gullqvist. The PPF Chevelle performed pretty well with a 5.865 ending up in third qualifying place. The first elimination round bettered the ET to 5.819 against Fast Freddy. Andreas and team wanted to run a 5.7 but came up short and must save it for the Finals in September. The track, the crowd and the show at Santa Pod Raceway are top notch! As of this moment the team are fifth in the FIA Championship.
Qualifying for this weekend's race starts at 13:50 on Friday. The Chevelle has undergone some pretty big changes from Santa Pod as we could see that there was room for improvement. The car has been acting a little bit strange, even if the performance has been pretty good. But as the competition grows with many great blower car runs in the 5.8s at the Pod we needed to look things over and maybe take further steps forward. We have an eager team which wants to go and make hits on what is normally an awesome track at the first-class facility of Tierp Arena.
Thanks to our sponsors PPF Racing, PA-So Produkter (Patrik Björk), FuelTech, MPM Oil, PLR Proline Racing, Precision Turbo and Engine, Allmek and Nuke Performance.
Swift snippets.
6th June: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us a tweaked final version of the official entry list for the SPRC Summernationals. You can check out the SPRC Summernationals 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.
Thanks to Bianca Booij for passing us an account of the Pro Dutch Racing Pro Modified team's weekend at the FIA/FIM Main Event. You can check out the Dutch-language PDF by clicking here.
Rachel, Duncan and Morgan Wilson asked us to say a big Happy 16th Birthday to reigning UK National Junior Dragster Champion Caitlin Wilson. Our pleasure, have a lovely day Caitlin.
One for the team.
6th June: May turned out to be for the UK's Williams Bros Racing team:
The fun started at the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals with the new addition to the team in the shape of Dan Williams’ stunning 1962 Impala which was only purchased a week prior to the event. Dan had just sold his '32 Ford hot rod, known as the Williams Bros Special, and it didn’t take long to find another car to his liking. A visit from the outstandingly talented Neil Melliard and the stunning hand-painted graphics were applied and the car made its début with totally stock engine and transmission, the only change was the tyres. Could it run close to the lowest dial-in of 15.00 seconds for UK Nostalgia Superstock... the weekend started in the 16s but oh so close in round one with a 15.01 ET. More drama, though, for Guy King who managed to basically destroy his rear axle internals putting his nine-second Chevelle out of action... but not Guy himself. Keith Williams and Guy made the trip back to Norfolk to collect his street-only (where have I heard that before) 1970 Chevelle so that he could still race. Having never driven the car on the strip before it was a best guess for dial in and fair to say we were about half a second off. James Oliver though was flying. His Firebird was going quicker than ever and proving to be super consistent. Ollie qualified second and was on great form. Three team cars into round one, unfortunately none into round two, despite Ollie running 9.5504 on a 9.55 dial-in, but the cherry on the tree ended his weekend.
Next weekend the eagerly-awaited Doorslammers. Again Ollie and Guy in action, especially Guy as it was a mad thrash to get the axle repaired in just four days. This time though the team was joined by Nic Williams in the fearsome blue Chevelle. The last time Nic raced this car was at the 2017 National Finals where he took the event win and also the SPRC Pro ET Championship. Three cars then into the OCS Group sponsored Big Bracket to see if we could win back some of the class sponsorship money. Saturday was a washout so it was all on Sunday with an incredible £10,000 on the line for the winner.
A brilliant perfect light from Guy King in round one proved that the axle repair had been spot on and, despite a breakout, his was the lesser of the breakouts so onto round two where his progress was ended by last year's Sunday Big Bracket winner Lee Huxley. Ollie next and a red light from Pete Youhill aided Ollie progress to round 2 and a match up with last year's finalist Jens Könnecke. Another win light for the Firebird but to be in the money the Cortina estate and Tom Atkinson would have to be beaten. A cracking light from Ollie forced Tom to break out so we were in the quarter finals. A great race with Ronnie Mercer, who is becoming a racer to fear and rightly so, as Ronnie had a 0.00 light and ran one hundredth off his dial-in to end Ollie’s day.
So how about the third car, Nic in the WBR Chevelle. A 9.78 on a 9.77 dial-in against the super tough and last year's Saturday winner Collin Morrice set up another tough random draw, this time Ian Brown in the Camaro but a red from Ian sent Nic through to round 3. Rosello Cassar with the Escort from Malta was proving to be quite a package but Nic and the Chevelle were on a mission and wouldn’t be stopped. They don’t get much tougher than the Professor Brian Pateman and to progress to the semi-finals Nic had to be at his best. An 0.01 light and hundredth off dial-in were too much for Brian so Nic into the semis and Ronnie Mercer who had just beaten Ollie. A 0.007 red from Ronnie and Nic was in the final... against none other than Lee Huxley, one of the most experienced bracket racers out there. Nic dialled 9.77, drove it out the black door to a 9.787 and the win light, the trophy and the £10,000, the biggest prize money in Sportsman drag racing in the UK.
No time to rest however, as four days later and back to Santa Pod for the Main Event. No Guy King this weekend but Dan back behind the wheel of his 69 Nova after a major
engine rebuild and upgrades and using this event for testing. Thirty three cars going for thirty two places in eliminations and clutch issues meant that Dan ended up in thirty
third spot but would come in as an alternate. Ollie ended up eleventh, just a hunredth off dial-in, Nic fourth bang on his number but so were five others so down to the ten thousandth
to separate them. All three team cars got through round 1 which set up a round 2 match-up between Dan and Nic. Dan’s clutch issues which had plagued him in qualifying were
certainly fixed now, but the car reacted so well that Dan went red, so Nic went through with another 0.0 light and one hundredth off dial-in. Ollie also through as Vic Parsons broke out
spectacularly. Ollie was right on his dial in for his round 3 race with Neil Hunter who broke out, Nic getting round Ethan Lisle who was one to watch out for. Semi-finals and could we
have an all WBR final. Only three cars were in the pairing lanes as Ben Newsome had unfortunately broken, we hate to take a win like that and hope Ben is repaired soon. So Ollie
into the final on a solo, could Nic make it two finals in a row. Yes he could as again a 0.01 light was too much for Mike Lacey who went red. The dream final for Williams Bros Racing,
both cars hooked up perfectly off the line to perform side-by-side wheelstands but it was one race too far for Ollie’s transmission as a second gear issue, which was being nursed
throughout the event, finally gave out forcing Ollie to coast up the track and watch the win light shine bright once again for Nic.
Without a doubt the best racing month the team has ever had. There are lots of things happening within the team at the moment, we will do another update next week in which all will become clear, including news of the return of WBR to the USA.
Making maintenance easier.
4th June: Peter Lantz tells us that PLR Manufacturing will be showing two new products of use to their fellow racers at Tierp Arena this weekend:
The first is a rotor cutter with which you can cut or machine the teflon of your blower rotors. This is a unit which you can take with you to races, helping you to step up your game on the blower side, even between rounds if necessary. The rotor cutter is designed and produced in laser-cut steel sheets instead of an earlier billet aluminum version, to reduce costs and make it more affordable.
PLR have also designed a piston rack-cum-organiser. After years building piston racks for Top Fuel teams, we came up with this solution to try improve the product.
The rotor cutter and the piston rack/organiser will be displayed in Jonny and Dennis Nilsson's Autoart Top Fuel Dragster pit at Tierp Arena this weekend and at other events which the team attends. Feel free to come by and take a look, and to get more information.
If North American and Australian customers are interested then Mike Domagala and PMP Premium Motorsport Products have the items in stock in the USA.
Tierp Internationals coverage.
4th June: Simon and Tog are on their way to Tierp Arena to bring you all the news from the Tierp Internationals in association with John Woolfe Racing.
Our coverage, which commences on Thursday, will consist of real-time reports and results throughout each day and pit notes courtesy of Simon throughout each day. We will also post a gallery at the end of the day courtesy of our good friends Lena Perés and Remco Scheelings.
You can check out our Tierp Internationals coverage index, which also includes links to the provisional running order and Web TV (see below), by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Lelle Olsson and Nitroz will be providing Web TV which will be free to view on Thursday and Friday, and chargeable on Saturday and Sunday. The viewing fee includes access to replays. You can find out more or sign up at www.solidsport.com/eu-dragracing-championship or via our Event Index as above.
Swift snippets.
4th June: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us the final version of the official entry list for the SPRC Summernationals. You can check out the SPRC Summernationals 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.
Ålund doubles up.
4th June: Over the last two seasons, Jimmy Ålund has competed in two of the premiere classes in the FIA European Drag Racing championships, Pro Modified and Pro Stock. Par Willén writes that it has been good:
Last year in the Pro Mod class with Jimmy behind the wheel of The Old 51 Chevy Business Coupe, he and the team went all the way and brought home the coveted FIA Pro Mod Championship trophy. Jimmy did not complete a full season in the Summit Racing Pro Stock Camaro but did make history at the Alastaro race in Finland where he was the first driver in FIA history to win both the Pro Stock and Pro Mod classes at the same event.
2019, a new season. Jimmy will be campaigning both cars again, but with a twist. Not only will he run the full season in the Old 51 as usual, but he will also go for gold in FIA Pro Stock by contesting
all six races of the Championship in the Summit Racing Camaro. Two FIA Championships in a single season, quite a challenge. "Yes, most definitely", says Jimmy, "it's been in the back of my mind
and now after two very solid seasons with The Old 51 team, we feel that we have the kind of strong and close relationship needed to go this extra mile. Of course the whole team behind the Summit
Racing Pro Stock Camaro is central in this endeavour. They have tremendous experience and skills, they have of been instrumental in collecting our ten FIA Pro Stock Championships."
The FIA racing season started with the Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway, UK, a classic venue for drag racing. FIA Pro Mod, The Old 51: Qualifying ended up OK, #1 after Q1 and #4 after all four rounds. Two of the runs in the 5.8-second range with solid speeds. Tyre shake in Q2 and Q4 but no technical issues. "Good and bad", says Jimmy, "#1 qualifier at the first hit of the FIA season is good as is running in the 5.8s but we had trouble with tyre shake in two of the rounds. And, whoa, it's a real tough crowd to go up against. Progress, our 5.86 puts us back in fourth place now, last year that would've been #1 here."
Eliminations, round one. The Old 51 pulled another 5.8, a win with a 5.88 at over 241 mph (387 km/h). Quarter finals, consistency, Jimmy ran a stout 5.87 at 240 mph (386 kmh) to move on to the semi-finals where it ended. Tire shake, pedalling and the weekend was over for the Old 51. "We're OK, we did as well as we'd expected", says Jimmy. "I've had the privilege to drive this car for two seasons and during that time we've never have as many changes to the car as for this one race. New rules, the car has been made lighter, blower speed slowed down, new converter, new engine parts, and new suspension set-up. We're right on track, the whole team knows what to do and we're all very much looking forward to the next event in front of a Swedish crowd at Tierp Arena."
FIA Pro Stock, the Summit Racing Camaro: First time at Santa Pod since 2016. Impressive performances throughout qualifying, Jimmy ended up #2 behind veteran Michael Malmgren. Very tight,
6.572 for Michael, 6.575 for Jimmy who ran the quickest elapsed times in three of the four qualifying rounds and the fastest speed in all rounds including the fastest speed of the event in Q4. Jimmy
thus picked up eleven of a possible twelve qualifying bonus points.
Eliminations round one, 6.58 made for a win. Sem-finals against 2018 Champion Bengt Ljungdahl and Jimmy dodged a bullet. Bengt redlit while Jimmy fought bad tyre shake but took the win. The final, a tough task, Ålund up against the #1 qualifier Michael Malmgren. Jimmy took the event win at the first race of the season with another quick and fast run, 6.59 seconds at 209.95 mph (337.88 kmh).
A good start of the Championship. "Definitely, this came out well", says Jimmy. "I could've done better in the seat but it's like first day on the job getting the cobwebs out, I'm lucky to have such a good team giving me a good car to drive. I hope you've all seen the new livery across the whole side of the Camaro, we now have an even bigger commitment from our main sponsor Summit Racing Equipment. It really sets the standard for us this year, we're in deep and solid to fight for the 2019 FIA Pro Stock Championship."
Jimmy leaves Santa Pod as the leader in FIA Pro Stock and in fourth place in the FIA Pro Mod standings. The next race is this week's Tierp Internationals, Tierp, Sweden.
Summit Racing Equipment is sponsoring both the Old 51 Pro Mod car and the Ålund Pro Stock Camaro this year. This is in addition to Viking Industrimålning, Sverigedemokraterna, KB Racing, Camaroskroten, All American AB and Stigs Axle and Parts. Jimmy Ålund Racing is very grateful for the continuing support from such great companies.
Chisholm-Brown 2 for 2.
2nd June: Sam Chisolm-Brown again took the win at the second VWDRC Heads Up race which took place at Das Auto Show at Santa Pod Raceway. Sam and fellow finalist Chris Roylance were forced to hot-lap immediately after the semi-finals due to a long rain delay, but Chris didn't make the call leaving Sam to take a bye.
You can check out our VWDRC Heads Up 2 qualifying and elimination report by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
100e Challenge Round 2 report.
2nd June: Nigel Taylor writes that the second round of the 100e Challenge, which took place at the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway, featured more car and driver débuts:
Scott Colin has been flat out getting the blue supercharged Chevy-powered 100e ready and progressed to a respectable 12.2/113.18. He will now be flat out tuning it ready for an eleven-second pass as well as getting a car ready for his other half Monika Szili. Mark Haswell's feature car was pulling in the crowds and both Mark and Garth Wong are already well into the nines. Garth pulled an enormous wheelie in his side-by-side pass with Mark so had to back off slightly but still ran a ten!
Jubilee Lorne was driving her dad's Out on Bail 100e and ran its first 13.8-second pass, but dad Paul wasn't having any of that and progressed to a 13.7 - more to come from this one! Sharon Carver was having a great weekend too with her black 100e Jezebel running a 13.4/103.76. Joshua Duncan got his first go in the Squire; he would like to say a massive Thank You to his dad Steve Halls for all his hard work and for getting his car built and ready in just five months!
Congratulations to Lizanne Doyle for her Assassin 100e which won a NSRA Top 6 trophy for Most Entertaining. Her story about her drive to the track with husband Sean Doyle was entertaining just on its own!
The 100e Challenge has certainly brought together a great group of people with lots more interest, and more cars joining in all the time.
When it started, the group decided that racing points should be split into three classes:
Class 1: 1300cc-2100cc
Class 2: 2101cc-3500cc
Class 3: 3501+cc
Karl Reardon and Monika Szili will be grabbing points in Class 1 very soon. I have ended up taking all the points in Class 2 as I'm the only car in that class at the moment, and Class 3 is well into competition status:
Class 3 results
- Garth Wong 9.558/139.10
- Mark Haswell 9.611/138.97
- Tim Bull 10.998/131.38
- Troy Bull 11.076/125.96
- Robert White 11.697/118.57
- Scott Colin 12.254/113.18
- Sean Doyle 13.053/104.34
- Sharon Carver 13.411/103.76
- Paul Lorne 13.706/97.91
- Jubilee Lorne 13.864/95.70
- Lizanne Doyle 14.097/95.48
- Joshua Duncan 15.487/71.29
- Nigel Taylor 15.842/85.87
Thank You to Scott Colin and Sean Doyle for organising such a cool group of cars and people, and for all of their hard work behind the scenes. The Modified Ford 100e page sponsored by Zero 3 Customs can be found on Facebook.
Swift snippets.
2nd June: We would like to say a big Happy Birthday for today (Sunday) to Eurodragster.com Team Nutritionist Syd McDonald. Have a great day Syd and thanks again for the catering last weekend. Diana Macrae and all of the family and crew have asked us to say a big Happy 60th Birthday to Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Nigel Hale. Our pleasure DD, have a great day Nigel.
Web site updates.
2nd June: Liam Lodge has updated his European Drag Racing Blog with a review of the Professional classes at last week's FIA/FIM Main Event. You can take a look at liam66europeandragracing.wordpress.com.
Lightning strikes the Main Event.
1st June: UK Pro Mod and Super Pro ET racer John Tebenham had a great weekend at the FIA/FIM Main Event including a final licence pass of 6/24/230 which he says shocked the life out of him:
The Lightning McQueen Super Crew was run by Crew Chief Luke Robinson. All of our fuel timers either worked, or didn't work, or worked only when they wanted to. But we managed to qualify fifteenth out of twenty five, ahead of great guys such as Kev Slyfield and others - when you achieve something like that you know you haven't done a bad job!
We lost first round, but when you're up against experienced drivers who get great times of 5.8 there's not a lot you can do. It's funny, Luke says it's 150 lbs overweight but man, when you hit third gear, nothing will stop it! Marco and Jacob came to crew and Marco watched four passes between 6.2 and 6.5.
We also ran Ol' Smokey, our Ford Pop with the crazy burnouts, and we managed to go a few rounds. Andy Robinson changed the first gear on our B&J gearbox - I think he really only wanted to see how it worked, as he's got a Lenco. Andy is great and what he doesn't know about driving a Pro Mod is not worth knowing!
Hockenheim is next and I only want to race in front of the big crowds. We're taking both cars, along with new slicks for Ol' Smokey!
The Corvette is sort of up for sale - I only ever wanted to achieve 230 mph and 6.2 and now I've done it. It's easy to drive. If you want it call me, if you don't want it then don't call me. My mobile phone number is 07583 615973.
Swift snippets.
1st June: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 5 of the official entry list for the SPRC Summernationals. You can check out the SPRC Summernationals 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. We are expecting one further version on Monday.
The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (below left) is not the usual mystery as it came with its own revelation.
Also not exactly a spy picture but Ashley Crane got in touch with a shot from the FIA/FIM Main Event (above right) and asked if any Eurodragster.com reader has a suggestion for a caption. If you have a caption then drop us a line at editor@eurodragster.com.
Thanks to Mike Collins for sending us the usual preview of his column in the latest issue of Street Machine magazine, plus bonus material exclusively for Eurodragster.com readers including a QR code link to a nostalgia video featuring the legendary Allan Herridge.
Web site updates.
1st June: Paul Bryan has updated his Flickr gallery with 296 pictures from the FIA/FIM Main Event. You can check out Paul's great pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/paulbryan_photopedia.
Ferry discounts for Kauhava.
31st May: Job Heezen of the FIM Europe Drag Racing Commission has been in touch to advise bike racers that if you are planning to contest the FIM Europe round at Kauvaha then there are a number of ferry discounts available:
If you travel from Central Europe then you can get discounts on the Travemände-Malmö vv ferry. Contact Finnlines at passenger@finnlines.com or ask Åsa Kinnemar of Speedgroup at asa.kinnemar@speedgroup.eu.
If you travel from Travemände to Helsinki then discounts can go up to 50%. Call Finnlines on +358 923 143 100; the discount code for the cargo side is NESTEVAN and the discount code for the passenger side is FHRAC.
If you travel from Kapellskär to Nådendal, discounts go up to 35% on the evening ferry and up to 50% on the morning ferry. The discount code is FHRAC and includes two free meals per person (no alcohol included I'm afraid).
Additional information on ferries can be found on the Racers' page of Speedgroup's web site at www.speedgroup.eu.
Good luck with booking, I hope that the vessels with be close to overloaded with teams travelling to Kauhava. See you there.
SPRC Summernationals entry update.
31st May: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 4 of the official entry list for the SPRC Summernationals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 22nd-23rd June and which is a round of the Motorsport UK, UK National and ACU UK Championships as well as a Championship round for some other classes. You can check out the SPRC Summernationals 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.
SPRC Summernationals entry closes today (Friday), after which a Late Entry penalty may apply. You can download the official entry forms via the Information link on the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
If you have any queries about event entry then please get in touch with Ian at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625).
FIA/FIM Main Event stats wrap-up.
31st May: Many thanks to Åsa Kinnemar and Peder Eneroth for sending us the post-FIA Main Event points standings in the FIA European Drag Racing Championships and FIA Europe Drag Bike Championships respectively. You can check out the European points on our OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Thanks also to Yvonne Tramm and our own Simon for passing us the post-FIA/FIM Main Event points standings in the UK National Drag Racing Championships. You can check out the points on our OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page 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 Andy Marrs for passing us the official timing data from the the FIA/FIM Main Event, 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. As well as the European records which we detailed on Tuesday, Marrs tells us that the following records were set:
Santa Pod Raceway track records
Top Fuel ET: Anita Makela 3.8426 seconds
Pro Stock Bike ET: Fredrik Fredlund 7.1165 seconds
Street Eliminator ET: Andy Bond 7.0874 seconds
Street Eliminator speed: Andy Bond 209.16 mph
Top Doorsammer ET: Mattias Wulcan 5.6479 seconds
Top Doorsammer speed: Mattias Wulcan 256.55 mph
European side-by-sides
Top Fuel ET: Anita Makela/Liam Jones combined ET 7.7630 seconds
Super Street Bike ET: Mogens Lund/Steve Venables combined ET 13.8408 seconds
You can check out the new records on Marrs' table of UK and European Bests by clicking here or by clicking on the European and UK Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
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.
A big Thank You to everyone for the appreciative comments about our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored coverage of the Doorslammers, Pro Peak Performance Day, FIA/FIM Main Event and Private Test. Like they kind of said on Vision On, we can't return all compliments at the time but they are read and appreciated, as are suggestions and constructive criticism.
Giselle's Thank You.
31st May: UK ET Bike racer Giselle Moor has been in touch to thank all those in the drag racing community who have supported her and donated after her accident at Santa Pod Raceway last season:
I just wanted to write a few words to say a huge thank you to everyone who has donated to help buy me a smart drive via the Just Giving page started by my friend Brogan. The support from all you fantastic people in all honesty has been incredible and overwhelming and we have been left a little speechless. The on-line donations, alongside those which Suze Morris collected from the chocolate easter egg and sweets competitions, have meant the target was reached quicker than we could have imagined and we have you all to thank for that.
Brogan was then left with a difficult dilemma. When she originally spoke with me about setting up the page and what I needed there were two items we discussed; The Smarttdrive and a Batec mobility trike - both designed to help increase mobility in the wheelchair. We decided on the Smartdrive as we thought that £5000 was a hard enough target to reach. But we are nearly there and Brogan still has a couple of challenges to undertake herself with donations coming from our local community.
Therefore Brogan has made the decision to keep the Just Giving page open, aiming for the Batec wheelchair attachment instead. This will give me increased mobility over a much greater range and variety of terrains, and also allow me to easily partake in one of my greatest loves, music festivals.
The purpose of this post is not to ask for further help, but to say Thank You. The support from this particular community has been outstanding and I personally cannot express my gratitude enough. I want to keep you all in the loop with where your donations are actually going and how the Batec will be of a better benefit. To everyone who has helped to reach our target so far, please sit back and need not feel like any further contribution is necessary. It is amazing to have got so far already and we thank you so much for your generosity.
As a final note, for those of you who haven't seen on social media, I wanted to share a little progress report. Since being discharged from rehab on 1st December I am now living back in London, in an accessible flat. I am working four full days a week and travelling on a Tuesday for therapy from a charity. I can walk, with a frame for support and my steps continue to get stronger. There is still a significant amount of recovery still to make and some movement still to gain but I am motivated and positive I've got more progress left. My family and I are very much looking forward to returning to the track again on 22nd June to spectate at the Summernationals and to thank you all in person.
Event entry update.
30th May: Today (Thursday) is the absolute closing date for entry to next week's Tierp Internationals at Tierp Arena.
You can enter at www.dragracing.eu, and you can check out the Tierp Internationals 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.
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 22nd-23rd June and which is a round of the Motorsport UK, UK National and ACU UK Championships as well as a Championship round for some other classes. You can check out the SPRC Summernationals 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.
SPRC Summernationals entry closes tomorrow (Friday), after which a Late Entry penalty may apply. You can download the official entry forms via the Information link on the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
If you have any queries about event entry then please get in touch with Ian at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625).
Private Test Day coverage.
29th May: We are in place at Santa Pod Raceway to bring you the action from today's second Private Test in association with John Woolfe Racing.
The Webster Race Engineering/Nimbus Motorsport webcam will be on-line broadcasting live video and trackside audio so long as the track is open. There will be a photo gallery at the end of the day; a report is contingent upon the number of runs made.
You can check out our Private Test reports and galleries by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
FIA/FIM Main Event results.
28th May: Congratulations to the winners at the FIA/FIM Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway:
FIA Top Fuel Dragster: Anita Mäkelä 3.8426/296.72 def. Maja Udtian no time DQ
FIA Top Methanol: Sandro Bellio 5.5331/253.80 def. Manty Bugeja 5.4514/268.24
FIA Pro Modified: Micke Gullqvist 5.8357/245.03 def. Mats Eriksson no time DQ
FIA Pro Stock: Jimmy Ålund 6.5961/209.95 def. Michael Malmgren 7.9678/122.07
European Nitro Funny Car Series: Steve Ashdown 4.7558/188.14 def. Kevin Chapman 5.5822/134.02
Top Doorslammer: Caroline Strand 5.9421/242.54 def. Mattias Wulcan 6.6770/144.80
FIM Europe Top Fuel Bike: Rikard Gustafsson 5.9555/242.54 def. Glenn Borg 6.9074/201.58
FIM Europe Supertwin: Marcus Christiansen 6.5058/215.13 def. Samu Kemppainen no time broke
FIM Europe Pro Stock Bike: Janne Koskinen 7.2337/185.01 bye, Martin Bishop no show
FIM Europe Super Street Bike: Steve Venables 6.8548/213.90 def. Erich Gruber 7.8473/185.12
FIM Europe Junior Drag Bike Cup: Blade Dummer (13.66) 13.8944/48.05 def. Meggie Talbot (9.75) 9.6576/67.17 DQ b/o
Secret Worx Comp Eliminator: Kev Perkins (7.99) 7.7377/151.02 def. Kevin Jenkins (7.58) 13.7793/80.93
Good Vibration Motorsports/Przym Paintworks Super Pro ET: Stu Doignie (8.51) 8.5235/153.65 def. Daniel Giles (7.40) 7.3812/179.23 DQ b/o
Modurstang Pro ET: Nic Williams (9.75) 9.9010/115.52 def. James Oliver (9.68) 18.7585/38.31
Phoenix Personnel Super Comp: Martin Curbishley 8.9116/147.60 def. Pete Creswell 9.0102/147.20
Jon Morton Super Gas Shootout: Simon Fulton 15.2398/84.26 bye, Mark White shut off
Lucas Oil Junior Dragster: Matthew Dowdy (8.31) 8.2989/77.47 def. Tom Kaye (8.15) 8.1003/81.66 DQ b/o
Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator: Andy Bond 7.0874/209.16 def. Joe Stevens 8.0510/173.10
Subject to ratification the following records were set. Congratulations to:
FIA Top Fuel Dragster ET: 3.842 seconds, Anita Mäkelä
FIM Europe Super Street Bike ET: 6.854 seconds, Steve Venables
Street Eliminator ET: 7.087 seconds, Andy Bond
Congratulations also to Super Pro ET racer Ian Brown and Pro ET racer Al Platt who won the Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award and Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award supported by the Twister Race Team. The Bob's Photo Finish Award, posted by Eurodragster.com supporter Bob Roberts, has provisionally been won by Pro ET racers Nic Williams and Ethan Lisle whose finish line margin in their Pro ET E3 race was 0.47 inches. This, together with other records such as side-by-side bests will be confirmed by Andy Marrs when he has analysed the weekend's timing data.
You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored FIA/FIM Main Event 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.
Hall of Fame's SPR donation.
23rd May: The Trustees of the British
Drag Racing Hall of Fame Benevolent Fund have donated a patient monitoring device to Santa Pod Raceway.
The G3H Portable Patient Monitor is battery-powered and can easily be carried around. It is suitable for use in bedside monitoring in medical centres or hospitals and can print out graphs of patient readings.
Stuart Bradbury, Chair of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame and Trustee of the BDRHOF Benevolent Fund, said 'This donation will be directly for the benefit of racers and of fans at Santa Pod Raceway and we hope that it can help to save lives at the track."
Keith Bartlett, Santa Pod owner and CEO of Trakbak Racing Ltd, said "We at Santa Pod Raceway are very grateful to the BDRHoF Benevolent Fund for their generosity in making this direct donation to our medical services."
There will be a start line presentation to mark the donation at lunchtime this Saturday during the FIA/FIM Main Event, conditions permitting.
The BDRHoF Benevolent Fund will again be hosting signing sessions at Dragstalgia on 13th and 14th, at which legends of the sport over the last fifty years, including legendary Funny Car owner and Crew Chief Roland Leong, will be present to sign autographs and to chat to fans.
European Top Gas Round 1 report.
22nd May: After a 1000-kilometre journey from The Netherlands Herman Jolink contested the first round of this year's European Super Twin Top Gas Series over the eighth mile at Malmö Raceway:
There were ninety two competitors in the car and bike classes. The track was very well-prepared by the team from Malmö Raceway, a lot of rubber and glue on the full eighth.
For the first time with the team was Lex Deemter who is nineteen years old and who is studying Machining Techniek at Zwolle. We met Lex at Carrosseriebouw Jansen Wesepe, where we are working on the Ducati Panigale-1 Drag Bike. On Friday evening we practiced starting the Ducati 1198 RS Drag Bike and how to handle the start. We did everything but the Ducati was just not running.
At 11:15 on Saturday Top Gas had their frst qualifying session. I ran 5.718/197 kmh, shortly before the finish line I shifted into the fifth gear. The sixty foot time was 1.377, not so good, could be a lot better. Then a fast car put a lot of oil on the track.
At 15:28 we had the second qualifier, 5.537/197 with just four gears, the sixty foot time was 1.331. The third qualifyier was at 17:13, 5.525/198, sixty foot was 1.331 and again four gears and on the rev limiter. The last qualifier was ar 19:25. After launching the first three qualifiers on 5000 revs we started on 6000 revs and I used all five gears. 5.411/203 and the sixty foot time was 1.239. We qualified seventh of the eighteen competitors for a sixteen-bike field. Top Gas qualifying:
- Schack DK on 2622 V-Twin special made in the USA 4.621/242
- Menzi CH on 2622 V-Twin special made in the USA 4.623/236
- Lymant DE on 2622 V-Twin special made in the USA 4.630/238, in the first qualifier Lymant's motor was leaking oil and the starter ordered him three times to shut off.
- Jensen DK on 2000 home-made blower bike 5.017/221, a new Personal Best. On the third run he had tyre shake, got off the throttle then on it again. Jensen now uses an M&H tyre, previously it was a Mickey Thompson.
- Albers DE on 2622 V-Twin special made in the USA 5.238/217
- Ström SE on big V-Twin (ex-Janne Gustavsson) 5.409/207 with some burnt clutch plates. Also in the pit was Ulf Ögge with his mechanic - for many years Ulf rode a 2622 V-Twin Pro Stock Bike from the USA
- Jolink NL on Ducati 1198 RS (1266) Drag Bike 5.411/202 this is my forty fourth year of drag racing, always on a Ducati
- Caspari DE on home built 2240, cylinder heads from billet by Henk Kemp and aluminium frame by Gerd Caspari, 5.425/204
- Miettinen FI on 1340 HD V-Rod Destroyer 6.167/181, Miettinen is the youngest rider in the class at seventeen years old
- Schleichert DE on 1340 HD V-Rod Destroyer 6.245/178
- Bruhn DE 6.427-187 on home built 2300 Blower V-Twin (ex-Job Heezen, ex-Harry van Schie). After the second run the rear piston was melted
- van Nimmen BE on 2600 V-Twin 6.445/168 some set-up problems
- Hormann DE on V-Twin 6.685/166 leaking oil from the gearbox at the end of the shutdown area
- Foit DE on 1125 Buell with Rotax engine 7.400/152 with set-up problems
- Larsson SE on home built 2600 Turbo V-Twin 7.413-137
- Heer DE on 2400 V-Twin (ex Ronald v d Werken) 7.941-171 kmh
Rikard Gustafsson made his first run on his Top Fuel Bike after the crash at Hockenheim last year, on the throttle for 100 metres and ran 4.4 seconds. Marcus Christiansen was on his home built Supertwin Top Fuel Bike with a bigger motor and a new carbon fibre wheelie bar, Marcus made a half pass of 4.5 seconds. Then they went home with their very rusty old Mercedes. Marcus and his father are two of a kind, a strong relationship.
European Super Twin Top Gas eliminations:
E1: Schack 7.313/159 def. Herr 8.872/164, Schack had clutch problems but he had a lot of luck as Herr was riding very slowly. Miettinnen 6.223/182 def. Caspari 6.134/187, Caspari almost crossed the centre line and Miettinen had a very good Reaction Time. Hormann 7.262/99.7 losing his push rods def. Jensen who had a spark plug escape the cylinder head. Albers 4.977/228 def. van Nimmen 6.565/184. Menzi 4.686/235 def. Larsson 8.800/86. Jolink 5.431/201 def. Schleichert 6.322/175. Lymant 4.681/235 def. Foit 8.583/88 Ström 5.386/205 bye, Bruhn broke.
E2: Schack 4.711/241 def. Miettinen 6.172/181. Albers 5.576/214 bye, Hormann had no spare push rods. Menzi 4.556/239 def. Jolink 5.450/201. Lymant 4.651/233 def. Ström 5.383/205.
E3: Albers 5.138/235 def. Schack 13.334/43, clutch problems. Lymant 4.623/234 def. Menzi 4.784/204 red light. Menzi was already in pre-stage when Lymant was still three metres from pre-stage, Menzi probably over-concentrated.
Finale: Lymant 4.591/236 def. Albers 4.827/237. Lymant set a new Top Gas ET record of 4.591 with a back-up of 4.623.
European Super Twin Top Gas standings:
- Lymant DE 940
- Albers DE 720
- Menzi CH 650
- Ström SE 510
- Jolink NL 500
- Schack DK 485
- Hormann DE 440
- Jensen DK 430
- Caspari DE 390
- Schleichert DE 370
- Foit DE 330
- Larsson SE 320
- Heer DE 310
- Niklas DE 300
- Malmberg SE 300
- Miettinen FI 280
- Buhler CH 200
- van Nimmen BE 150
Swift snippets.
22nd May: Lizz and Kevin Charman asked us to say a big Happy 20th Birthday
to their resident geek and pretty cool guy Jake Charman. Our pleasure, have a great day
Jake.Missing in action.
22nd May: Eagle-eyed readers will have noted the absence of Timo and Dennis Habermann's Top Methanol Dragsters from this season's entry lists so far. The team say that after discussions between the team, family and team management the decision has been made to contest only the NitrOlympX at Hockenheim and the FIA/FIM European Finals:
A lot of you will ask why the European Champions of 2017 and 2018 will only join in two races? First of all, we want to point out that there is no main reason for that decision. Furthermore there are many different reasons (some high impact, some low impact) why the pendulum swung in that direction.
"Of course it was our main goal to confirm our amazing season of 2018 with six races and six victories", says Dennis Habermann. "You just want to jump into the car, fire it up and chase your own record. That’s why we love drag racing so much: passion, fighting against your opponents and fast runs. But last season there were so many things behind the scenes - less by the organisers, more from the FIA - that are so demotivating to us and you reach the point where you ask yourself why are we still doing all this?
Timo explains "All drag racing teams are racing for passion and as a hobby. We don't have a budget running into the millions like in the US and it's not our main profession. Amongst our team all of the crew members have a family, a lot of them have kids and a full-time job. Nearly all of the the time during which they support us is vacation and the reduction of overtime. But when those boys and girls get the feeling that some people are putting spokes in their wheels there is something not entirely correct. All of those who know our crew can probably imagine what's going on there."
Our team and therefore our drivers as well received financial penalties from the FIA which they have never proven to us - they probably aren't able to prove it. At the NitrOlympx in Hockenheim we received a €500 fee - without paying the fine Timo would have been suspended for the last two races - because a team boss pointed out some oil spills in the starting area before Timo's run in the semi-final. Immediately after the run the start crew thanked him for pointing out that safety risk to them. But the FIA and their Race Director? The Race Director stormed into our trailer, confronted Werner, Dennis and Timo, and accused Werner of impeding the track crew. He never showed any proof or evidence and he refused to talk to the start crew. The penalty remained - par ordre du mufti.
We paid the fee (under protest) before Tierp II because at that time our dream of the double European Championship was bigger than investing a lot of energy to appeal the decision. "without paying the penalty fee, Timo would have been suspended for two races", says Werner Habermann. "The work of the entire team would have been all a waste of time. But there is something that causes way more demotivation to passionate sportsmen: there is no hand-over of the FIA trophy after a long and energy-sapping season. In 2015 and 2017 the FIA trophy was delivered by the postman who left it on the doorstep. In 2018 Dennis recieved the trophy in Sweden at Speedgroup's season-end party. A big Thank You to Speedgroup for making it possible."
But this is just one of many reasons that we decided to run only twice this season. Timo clarifies: "The entire topic regarding the FIA was annoying, cost a lot of nerves, took time and cost us money. Especially in times of an increasing entry fee whilst the prize money is still at a level like in the 1990s. But this summer so many things are happening: first day at school, first day at kindergarten, some building construction and some long summer trips. We take those circumstances into account every pre-season". Dennis says "A big irritation is the schedule of the season: between the NitrOlympX and the second race in Tierp there are just three days. Not only our team is unhappy with this - all drivers are. And the thing is: it's against the regulation. For at least fouryears there is the promise to change this, so the teams get one week more between those two races. But it's all talk - no action. At the same time the FIA is surprised that less and less teams compete in the European Championships. Maybe they should think about those things.“
But we want to make sure that the two races we are going to won't be a pre-test for 2020. We want to win those races like every other race in the past. We are looking forward to seeing many of you in Hockenheim in mid-August - some of you we will see in mid-June. We are revealing this week what's going on in June.
Editor's note: As this is not Plutarch's Lives please see News FAQ 16.
VP expand European logistics.
23rd May: Eurodragster.com sponsor VP Racing Fuels, Inc, recognised around the world as the leader in racing fuel and performance chemicals, today announced a warehousing and logistics relationship with CP Benelux in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
"As VP seeks to expand its distribution network across Europe, this move will further support our distributors and end users with availability and ease of access", said Peter Coleman, VP's Business Development Consultant in Europe. "Establishing a logistics hub means that we can service our distributors better, and enter new markets and service additional customers as a result."
A wide selection of VP's racing fuels and consumer products will be stored at the site including VP's celebrated R5 rally fuel, its range of drag racing fuels, and the club racer’s choice, the FIA-compliant RX102. Fuels suitable for virtually any motorsport application will be available, including jetski, motocross, circuit racing, rally, drift or hillclimb. Also on hand will be VP's Octanium Unleaded octane booster, winner of New Product Awards at the SEMA and PRI Shows in America.
"We are looking forward to helping VP Racing Fuels expand their business in Europe by improving their product availability to distributors and racers" commented Hans Wamelink, Executive Officer at CP Group. "As a former rally competitor myself, I know the importance of prompt delivery of the right product!"
CP Benelux was established in 1978 as a provider of logistics services with storage and transportation options for virtually every class of dangerous goods. With many years of experience, they were seen by VP as the ideal partner to handle hazardous goods in a complex regulatory and taxation environment.
For more information about VP and its products for distributors, racers, enthusiasts, and general consumers visit vpracingfuels.com/europe.
SPRC Summernationals entry update.
21st May: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 2 of the official entry list for the SPRC Summernationals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 22nd-23rd June and which is a round of the Motorsport UK, UK National and ACU UK Championships as well as a Championship round for some other classes. You can check out the SPRC Summernationals 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.
SPRC Summernationals entry closes on Friday 31st May, after which a Late Entry penalty may apply. You can download the official entry forms via the Information link on the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
If you have any queries about event entry then please get in touch with Ian at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625).
Johnny done Good.
21st May: UK Pro Modified racer John Tebenham doubled up at The Doorslammers driving his Super Pro ET Pop and licencing in his Corvette Pro Mod, and got in touch with us to give us his impression of the weekend:
Wow! Wow! Wow! What a crazy weekend! From smoking burnouts in the Pop to a mad, fast Pro Mod, trying to get my licence and a 6.62/223 on my fifth pass. If you want to drive something mental in drag racing then drive a Pro Mod - when it's going flat out it's like sitting in a chainsaw!
The only problem I had was that if I wasn't ready, or wasn't about, for some of our fire-ups some other bloke was always in it... Marco - no problem, but you don't get to drive it.
We had a busy weekend driving both cars and could hardly see to get back home, we were so shattered.
Thanks to Freddy for his oil pump drive and a big Thanks to my dream team. Great to have Tracy Island back! We all wish Tim Mugridge all the best this week, he came to Pod and helped us all weekend, helping us out and working on both cars. We couldn't hold him back - what a man, great respect to him.
Johnny Bee Good will see you all at the Main Event.
Swift snippets.
21st May: If would seem foolish for a bookmaker to sponsor a car and not take bets on the race, so Top Fuel Dragster racer Tethys' primary sponsor MustardBet, are offering a range of bets on Top Fuel Dragster at this weekend's FIA/FIM Main Event. "If it goes well, they may consider other classes and other bet types in the future", says Tet. "You can see their prices and place your bets at mustardbet.com/sports/events/376821."
Another Thank You to Andy Marrs, this time for passing us the official timing data from the The Doorslammers, 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.
Sawatzki tops run list.
21st May: Longtime readers will know that once the curiosity of stats guru and Honorary Eurodragster.com Staff Member Andy Marrs has been piqued he will find an answer however much work it takes. A throwaway comment about who has made the most passes down the track prompted Marrs to go through his data and find the answer for Santa Pod Raceway:
Two weeks and many, many hours of spreadsheet blindness later I've cobbled together an answer. I only hold data going back to 1995, and the older the data is the less accurate it is. Also, a fact of which I was already aware, timekeepers aren't the best spellers. Racers variously entering as Steve/Stephen/Steven, Dave/David, Pete/Peter etc have made accuracy somewhat testing.
That said, the runaway leader - something to which he is used - is reigning UK National 9.50 Bike Champion Richard Sawatzki with 943 runs down the track at Santa Pod. His nearest rivals are Dave Cherrett and Pete Cresswell, both on 839. In the process of doing this I was able to work out the most runs per season for each year, and top of that list is Paul Marston with 81 runs in 2011. A special mention, too, for Super Gas racer Tim Adam who topped the lists in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2006 and was second in 2002 and 2004.
These numbers are on the basis that the racer was entered into the race computer for a run, rather than completed a run. My data contains over 160,000 runs so going through that lot to pick out who didn't reach the finish line, or the start line for that matter, would take more years than I have left on this planet. Likewise I have not attempted to record the classes involved, this is purely a list of race computer entries.
If anyone wants to know their total then please drop me a line at andy.marrs@outlook.com.
Main Event Perfect Awards and more.
21st May: £200 is up for grabs at this weekend's FIA/FIM Main Event courtesy of Eurodragster.com and our sponsors.
This weekend's Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Secret Worx Comp Eliminator
racer Jordan Payne at the Springspeed Nationals. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer at the event to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect
Light Award is available to racers in all classes during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event. The Perfect Light 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 are available in Signing On or from Eurodragster.com staff.
The Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award supported by the Twister Race Team has also been reset to £50 after it was won by
Modurstang Pro ET racer Bob Molden at the Springspeed Nationals. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer at the event to tun +0.000 on index or dial-in.
The Perfect ET Award is available this weekend to racers in FIM Europe Junior Drag Bike, Good Vibrations Motorsports/Przym Paintworks Super Pro ET, Modurstang Pro ET,
Phoenix Personnel Super Comp, Jon Morton Super Gas Shootout and Lucas Oil Junior Dragster (eliminations only), but will only be awarded for the first Perfect ET of the
weekend. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with Andy Hadfield of the Twister Race Team, who will be represented this weekend by Lucas Oil Junior Dragster
racer Purdie Hadfield.
Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect ET Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com decals are available in Signing On or from Eurodragster.com staff.
Bob's Photo Finish Award, which is presented in association with longtime Eurodragster.com supporter Bob Roberts, will award £50 each to the racers involved in the closest race of eliminations at this weekend's event. The last Bob's Photo Finish Award, presented at the 2018 UK National Finals, was won by Lucas Oil Junior Dragster racers Thomas Cook-Abbott and Luke Mugridge whose finish line margin in E1 was 0.0005 seconds or 0.69 inches.
The closest race will be decided upon distance rather than time since, for example, 0.001 seconds at 230 mph is further than 0.002 seconds at 110 mph. For this reason the official timing data will need to be consulted so the winners will be announced here on Eurodragster.com as soon as possible after the event and the winners will then be contacted for their preferred method of payment.
Bob's Photo Finish Award is open to all classes during eliminations only, and although Eurodragster.com decals are not mandatory we would appreciate if it they are carried. Eurodragster.com decals are available in Signing On or from Eurodragster.com staff.
Web site updates.
21st May: Paul Bryan has updated his Flickr gallery with over 150 pictures from the Doorslammers. You can check out Paul's great pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/paulbryan_photopedia.
Doorslammers results.
20th May: Congratulations to the winners at the weekend's Doorslammers at Santa Pod Raceway:
VP Racing Fuels Pro Doorslammer: Mattias Wulcan 7.0446/116.43 bye, Micke Nord shut off
Turbo Technics Pro Street: Andy Bond 7.6622/202.57 def. Joe Stevens 8.0472/175.75
True Street: Mark Biggers 9.0994/157.97 def. Mark Carr 10.4938/146.17
OCS Group Big Bracket: Nic Williams (9.77) 9.7876/133.22 def. Lee Huxley (9.63) 9.6609/132.93
6 Cylinder: Gary Gooding 7.8962/169.81 bye, Mark Moseley shut off
Webster Race Engineering 4 Cylinder: Kev Jenkins 8.7667/150.67 def. Darren Scannell 11.5501/102.89
Eibach Front Wheel Drive: Nicolas Hackiere 10.3620/139.82 def. Calvin Skerritt 10.3422/136.52
Congratulations also to the SPRC track crews, race officials and marshals who never gave up in the face of weather, trails of fluid and other on-track incidents and to the Santa Pod management for adding Saturday's OCS Group Big Bracket prize fund to Sunday's fund after rain wrecked Saturday's schedule, enabling Eurodragster.com sponsor Nic Williams to pocket no less than £10,000 for yesterday's win and runner-up Lee Huxley and previous round losers to earn substantial amounts.
You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Doorslammers 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.
Swift snippets.
18th May: Martin Hill and Donna Finnegan asked us to say a big Happy 50th Birthday to Fireforce Jet team front man Richie Henry. "Go easy on the cider tonight!", they say.
Post-Main Event Test Days still open.
17th May: Places are still available for the Private Test Days at Santa Pod Raceway on the Tuesday and Wednesday immediately after the FIA/FIM Main Event (28th-29th May).
The Test Days are open, at a fee, both to racers who wish to stay after the Main Event and to those who wish to drive or trailer in on either or both days. All classes are welcome, both car and bike, with the exception of nitro-fuelled cars and bikes which cannot be accommodated. Slicks or Drag Radials are preferred; vehicles with street tyres will all have to use a particular lane. Spectators are also permitted to attend, again for a small fee.
The track will be prepped and safety cover will be provided.
If you would be interested in attending then please contact Thorsten Appel either at payupsukker@web.de or via Facebook.
Swift snippets.
17th May: Santa Pod Racers Club marshal Caroline Boncey has been in touch to thank everyone who
sponsored her to undertake the Bubble Rush in aid of the Hospice of st Francis. "The latest tally is £650 and I am humbled and overwhelmed
by everyone who sponsored me to help a charity very close to my heart", says Oscar. "We all ended up a lovely shade of Oscar green!". It is not too late
if you wish to add to Oscar's total for such a great cause; you can read more and donate at
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/caroline-boncey4.
Thanks to Andy Marrs for passing us the official timing data from the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals, 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.
Doorslammers notebook.
16th May: If you are going to Santa Pod this weekend then please bear in mind that the A45 is down to a single-lane-each-way contraflow where it crosses the railway line in between Wellingborough and Rushden (map).
Eurodragster.com will be reporting live from Santa Pod for all three days of the Doorslammers in association with John Woolfe Racing. We will be posting real-time reports and results and end-day galleries tomorrow (Friday), Saturday and Sunday, with pit notes on Sunday. This weekend's webcast will be provided by Santa Pod Raceway and will be available on YouTube (Santa Pod TV) and Facebook (Santa Pod Raceway). We will post a direct Home Page link to our coverage as soon as it commences tomorrow, but in the meantime you can check out our Doorslammers Event Index, which includes links to the entry list, provisional running order, webcast and Nitro FM, by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Nitro FM will be broadcasting all three days of the event on 96.2 FM at the track, or on-line at www.eurodragster.com/nitrofm.
Arthursson aims for title.
16th May: Andreas Arthursson and the PPF Racing team will be headed to Santa Pod
Raceway next week for the first step in their tilt at the 2019 FIA European Pro Modified Championship. Ulf
Stadig writes:
This is the first time that the team have travelled so far to race the '69 Chevelle. Previous races have been around Scandinavia.
37-year-old Andreas started as a street racer with high performance BMWs. This led to the business Pure Performance Factory, located in Avesta in Sweden, which he now owns with his partner Andreas Bäckström. The need for speed grew rapidly and a turbocharged Nova V8 was next until they stepped up and bought a 25:1E Chevy Monte Carlo from Martin Lundqvist's father Tom. This car was equipped with an LS twin turbo engine and was until a few years back the quickest LS-equipped car in the world with a 6.11, set in 2012.
As PPF grew and PPF Racing became quicker the desire for even better ETs led the team to order a 1969 Chevelle Pro Mod from chassis builder Mats Brag. This was supposed to be a joint effort with engine builder Nilsen Performance but that came to an halt and Andreas took over the engine concept and built a twin turbo BAE 490. The goal was set to became the quickest Pro Mod in Europe! PPF developed a good relationship with Precision Turbo, and FuelTech became their premier engine management provider, so the new engine was equipped with top-notch accessories.
After the début of the Pro Mod the fight was on for a few years to get it under six seconds over the quarter, and it became hard to find a sweet spot as the car delivered 6.0s with various bad outcomes. The team struggled and worked hard but the car was never consistent.
In late 2016 the car showed great performance in a test session in Malmö, recording a 3.88 eighth mile, and the team thought that 2017 would be a great season but still the car didn't deliver and was plagued with tyre shake and other bad stuff.
In the Fall of 2017 an idea arose: why not try to sell the old engine and go for a Proline Racing engine? A deal came up to buy a complete driveline from Troy Coughlin Sr's Jeg's Pro Mod Corvette as he was to parking his operation. This was the motor with which he won 2017 NHRA E3 Spark Plug Pro Modified Championship. PPF and Andreas received good support from friends and sponsors, and an order was sent for top-notch equipment. Help with a baseline was agreed with Proline Racing; Eric Dillard and the team were helpful truly professional.
Some of the PPF team went to Bahrain to meet with Eric, Steve Petty and Brandon Stroud as they
were racing there with the Q80 team in January 2018. The PPF team got some great education on this trip!
In the Spring of 2018 great partner Pa-So Produkter stepped up and brought Brandon over for the
early test session down in Malmö. The car had been provided with a complete front-to-back set-up
by the Proline Racing team and PPF and the test was awesome. Brandon was a real pro who helped to baseline the
PPF Racing Chevelle.
Andreas and team contested four Pro Mod races in 2018 and won both of the FIA events at Tierp Arena. He also became Swedish Pro Modified Champion and won number one spot in the Summit Racing EDRS series. Confidence grew last season; with a consistent car the PPF team reset the European ET Record four times during the second event at Tierp and in the final round lowered it to a new best of 5.751.
For 2019 the car is NHRA-legal, except the auto-shifter which is not legal in Europe. The team made three hits at a local track and are now keen to get to Santa Pod to try to contend for the 2019 FIA Championship. The first part of Andreas' journey was completed with the ET record last season, this year's target is the number one Pro Mod plate.
Thanks to our sponsors PPF Racing, PA-So Produkter (Patrik Björk), FuelTech, MPM Oil, PLR Proline Racing, Precision Turbo and Engine, Allmek and Nuke Performance.
Bring it on!
Team picture courtesy and ©Marcus Möller
Take twenty three Anglias...
16th May: UK Outlaw Anglia racer Colin Millar writes that a twenty three-car Outlaw Anglia field was strong for their first event of the year, last weekend's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway, but that there was a reason for that and that it resulted in what everyone agrees was the class' best-ever outing:
Since the event schedule has been altered the need to go racing was even more prevalent as we are usually out and about early April. We had a really nice surprise with the reappearance of an old hand in Outlaw Anglia, namely Jeff Meads. It’s so good to see him back out for a full racing season in OA and as always his car is looking and going great, been a while out the seat but didn't take any time to get back into and sporting his new wheelie bars.
A few of us managed to get a run in on the Friday, trying to get those cobwebs blown away and the first-run-of-the-year nerves out of the way before the serious racing began. On Friday night the rain was torrential, mixed with hail and wind and it looked very much like the event would be a disaster. However, waking up in the morning the sun was out and the track was drying, and we thought that maybe the tide was turning (Possibly not the best choice of words - Ed). We were right, as our first race was at midday with some quick times and good solid straight racing, another round the back of three, and the last one with great air at half past seven at night. By this time the qualifying list was starting to show some pretty serious times with four cars into the sevens making it a very interesting time going into eliminations.
Another first was the dulcet tones of two Outlaw Anglia racers, Simon Barlow and Phil Ginner Middleton, in the Tower. A couple of comedians with Colin Theobald no doubt sweating as this was a
A strong sixteen-car field was ready to deliver early on Sunday morning, the winning eight moving through to the quarter finals but, unlike before, the losing cars going through to an Outlaw Anglia ET Bracket which they used to run back in the day. The resurgence of this event was keenly-anticipated for all who ran in it. It sounds simple but running a Pro tree on ET is very hard on your gearbox when do you get on the noise, especially if your competitor is away a few seconds before you!
Going in to the quarter finals something had happened which no one could explain: the need for speed, the electric atmosphere, the tension was all around the OA pits. How had the bar been raised, where did it come from? Who cares as it was happening right there right now, PBs for fourteen out of the nineteen cars which had run, making history which we were when you see the final results. The quarter final pairings were Paul Hensher and Ronnie Mercer, Simon Barlow and Jeff Meads, Colin Millar and Gary Bird, and Scotty Crookston and Steve Wells.
The fiercely-contested semi-finals were Scotty and Simon and Colin and Paul. Simon and Scotty up first with a fantastic race, Scotty getting away first but then Simon’s power was unleashed delivering a storming 7.33/190.60 backed up for a new OA speed record. Colin and Paul up next with a storming run from Paul and a bit of tyre shake from Colin and possibly the closest race ever in the OA series, Paul winning with a 7.412 Colin losing with a 7.413.
The Outlaw Anglia ET Bracket final was between Phil Drewitt and Mat Cooper (come on the Benders), with old hand bracket racer Phil taking the trophy - but we forgot to get one, typical of Outlaw Anglia. In the OA final up stepped Paul Hensher, who had just run the quickest ET of his career, skipped the 7.5s and moved straight into the low 7.4s, and up stepped Simon Barlow who had just taken the OA speed record as well as a new ET PB of 7.334. It was a cracking race with Paul getting the jump on Simon, but again the power came on and being a bit forgetful and not changing the nitrous bottle due to all the excitement (and old age) Paul ran out of steam, or rather NOS, and Simon took the win with a storming 7.33 setting a new ET record as well as the speed record.
The following racers noted PBs: Simon Barlow, Mark Bracking, Steve Wells, Colin Millar, Scotty Crookston, Barry Crookston, Garry Hill, Paul Hensher, Gary Bird, Philip Drewitt, Ronnie Mercer, Ted Booth, Kim Harrison and finally Luke Hoskins. All of the ET and speed PBs and much more including an NSRA Nostalgia Nationals event report can be found on the Outlaw Anglia web site. Jemma Bromley has been busy in the background with updates, reports and event galleries so please go and have a look at www.outlawanglia.co.uk.
These mind blowing times in what are wee cars – remember, only a 101" wheelbase with the aerodynamics of a brick - would not have been possible without the fully-prepped track given to us by Santa Pod Raceway for the whole weekend, and we were in the safe hands of all the marshals if we ever needed help. This of course is very much appreciated and never taken for granted.
It has to be said that in the time that we can remember it is hard to think of any event which was better, quicker, faster or more competitive in Outlaw Anglia – and, folks, that's only round one. Can it get better? You bet your life it can. Come and watch live, or watch Santa Pod’s fantastic live stream, but make sure that you mark the date for the next fantastic Outlaw Anglia extravaganza, the SPRC Summernationals on 22nd-23rd June. Be there or be square!
Mission nearly accomplished.
15th May: The weekend's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals was a great success for Simon Barlow and the Orange Pop Racing Outlaw Anglia team. Tuner Karl Harrison writes:
After very successful testing in 2018 it was time to get serious in 2019. The van received a few updates during the winter thanks to Jon Webster at Webster Race Engineering, a rear anti roll bar
and a nice shiny new pair of rear shock absorbers and springs. Jon spent the Thursday morning before the event baselining the car after the updates and then we headed over to the track to
set up the pit and set about making more changes. These included updating the Racepak datalogger with an extra fuel pressure sensor, and wiring in the transbrake which was to be used for
the first time with the blown methanol engine combination.
Mods completed and tested we were ready to hit the track. We were ready to go on Friday morning but the weather caused havoc and we didn't get out till late in the afternoon. Unfortunately on the first attempt after the burnout the start line crew spotted some oil under the car. We shut off and headed back to the pits - thanks guys, had the leak not been spotted the weekend could have been whole lot different. We soon found the issue and ten minutes later we were back in the pairing lanes.
This time all was good, Simon staged and got on the transbrake and was out the hole like a scalded cat. A Personal Best sixty foot and 330 foot was the result. Simon was off the loud pedal
just before the eighth as planned. The post-run service showed all was good and we all felt quietly confident that we were in for a good weekend's racing, Q1 on Saturday was going to be the
first full pass on the car for 2019 so I put in what I thought was a sensible/mild tune-up in the engine. Another great launch followed with no shake or issues and what came up on the boards
had us jumping for joy: another PB for ET and speed, 7.51/186. This put us second behind the awesome Flyin Fyfer team headed by Colin Millar,
After some small suspension tweaks from Jon Webster, and a small fuel system change from me, we headed to the line again. It just got better, we jumped into the number one spot with a
storming 7.45/188, we were on a roll! We decided to sit out the third and final qualifying run as we wanted to service the car from top to bottom to make sure it was in tip top condition for
Sunday's eliminations. As we weren't running Simon headed to the Tower with Ginner for a spot of colour commentary with Colin for the third session. It was worth sitting out just to hear
those two enjoying the moment.
On to race day, we got through round one with an early shutoff 8.00. In round two we faced Jeff Meads in his awesome Pop. Jeff gave Simon a lesson on Reaction Times and we were in chase mode and SImon just got the win with a 7.74 but yet another PB was showing with a speed of 190.60 mph. With the 188.91 in qualifying as a back-up we had the speed record! Round 3 was going to be tough race, we faced young Scotty Crookston and his very rapid Flyin Scotsman. This proved to be a fantastic race which thankfully we won with another PB ET 7.33/190.60.
By this point we all had sore shoulders, arms and throats through celebrating but we had to compose ourselves and get ready for what was going to be an epic final. We were up against Paul
Hensher who had also had been killer all weekend. Paul had Simon on the lights but then suffered shake but the Fordson was on another flyer, a 7.34/193 got us the win and the ET record to
finish off a truly magical weekend's racing.
The whole crew worked their socks off and deserve a massive amount of credit for what they have achieved since this beast of a race car was born. A huge Thank You also has to go to Jon Webster at Webster Race Engineering, Post en Dros for an unbelievable engine, and Jeff Bull for the torque converter and the invaluable advice. Also a big up to the brilliant Santa Pod guys and girls for running a brilliant event from start to finish. I must say a big well done to Colin Millar on his 7.30, close but no cigar on this occasion but believe me the chase is on. The 2019 Outlaw Anglia Championship is well and truly underway with a bang.
Next up is the Doorslammers, where we are going up against the big boys with big toys. Who's up for seeing a blown methanol Pop against a Pro Mod? We can't wait and we will be doing our best to crack the 200 mph barrier. If you're heading to the Doorslammers please come and say hello to us, the pit is always open and welcoming to fans and friends.
Swift snippets.
15th May: UK Pro Modified racer-in-waiting John Tebenham and team say that they are ready and keen for their début this weekend,
but not too confident as yet. "I've got a great team of people on board and have had lots of input and help from Andy Robinson Race Cars", says Johnny Bee Good aka Frank. "We'll see you up there, you'll definitely
see me... from anywhere in the world."
Returning Super Pro ET racer Ron Bartlett has been in touch to thank Simon Eykyn, his Crew Chief of over twenty five years. "Over the last two months we have been down at the workshop all hours and it finally paid off last week making the final in Super Pro ET", says Ron. "The car was like clockwork which made my job easy... ish! We calmed it down a bit because of the weather and it would run pretty much on its dial-in every time, mid 8.20s not too shabby. I would like to say thanks to my sister Ann for her support on and away from the track, last but not least Frank and Cliff Griffin as without them the car would not be performing the way it is, an awesome little car. A fantastic team effort, roll on the Main Event. Also well done to all at the Pod in what can only be described as difficult weather conditions, it was bloody freezing on the Saturday."
Many thanks to Andy Marrs for passing us an updated table of UK and European Bests now including those class and track records set at the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals. You can check out the record sheets by clicking here or by clicking on the European and UK Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Our good buddy Remco Scheelings is continuing his series of Features on the Drag Racing Europe Blog with his latest victim returning Top Fuel Dragster racer Susanne Callin. You can check out Remco's Feature by clicking here.
Super Pro ET Challenge underway.
15th May: Markus Münch writes that the Super Pro ET Challenge is well on its way:
Brian Pateman was the first to score points at the Springspeed Nationals. The Wide Open race at Rivanazzano followed, at which reigning Champion Franz Aschenbrenner managed to get third. The next chance to collect points will be the FIA/FIM Main Event at Santa Pod. Eight out of the twenty one Challenge participants will be there as part of the huge forty four-car field.
If you would like to be part of this series run by the Drag Race Union then you can simply register for a small fee. Your best four races count towards your overall points and at the and of the season the top five racers get prize money. Get in touch at kontakt@suproet.de.
Thank You to our 2019 sponsors Racepoint.it (Harley Davidson Garage Rudiferia), Rechsteiner Bedachungen, Mike Bruckmüller (Team 74 Racing), Billy Gane Motors, Jens Könnecke Fahrzeugtechnik, Stefan Eisenhauer Hughes Getriebe Service, M+F Montageservice, Geiger Cars München, Hillbilly Racing, Spedition Schumann and the BDRC (Bavarian Drag Racing Club).
Looking forward to the Main Event, let's go racing!
No Prep Nationals 4 entry open.
15th May: Paul Marston writes that entry is open for No Prep Nationals 4:
No Prep 4 takes place on 29th-20th June at Church Fenton, Leeds Airport East, Leeds, LS24 9SE as part of the Ultimate Motor Show, No Prep Outlaw Drag Racing is eighth-mile, flashlight start, no time, no speed, heads-up Doorslammer racing. Other than safety there are no rules.
This is a two-day event for competitors. There is no limit on entries, there will be space for everyone. Arrival day Friday, Saturday is simply test and tune (RWYB) all day. Sunday is No Prep Nationals 4. Depending on entries there may possibly be a race held on the Saturday, but that will be looked at closer to the day. This is the first time that we will have visited Leeds Airport, there is no noise restriction and this is the first event in our 2019 calendar where we can host the big boys of No Prep. So if the Rockingham Dragstrip No Prep National events are anything to go by, this will soon become a date not to miss.
We have thought long and hard about the classes and have come up with the below. If anyone wants to bring another class then please contact us, we are happy to discuss additional classes. RWYBers are welcome on both days, Saturday and Sunday, you will get plenty of runs on Saturday and will also get to run between classes on Sunday. All competitors will have to be members of the Straightliners Club and will need either an MSA license of an IOPD licence, all of which can be done on the day or in advance.
The classes will be:
No Prep Big Tyre, £1500 cash to win (sixteen car field)
No Prep Small Tyre, £1500 cash to win (sixteen car field)
True/Pro Street Combo, £750 cash to win (sixteen car field)
Monster Big Bracket, £750 cash to win (twenty car field) usual timing equipment, eighth mile. RWYB for everyone, with timing tickets, 60 feet, 330 feet, ET and Speed eighth mile
The rules in No Prep are fairly simple, for a copy simply download from the No Prep Drag Racing Facebook page. For entry fees and forms or other information E-Mail pmdragracing@gmail.com, call or text me on 07831 650230, or visit the No Prep Drag Racing Facebook page. Once again our sincere thanks to Trevor Duckworth and the Straightliners organisation for hosting us.
Nomads launch Street Racer Shootout.
15th May: The Nomad Drag Racing Club announced the return of the Street Racer Championship. However, after an unforeseen objection,
the Club has started afresh. It was an easy fix and the Nomad Street Racer Shootout was born. Howard Holmes writes:
Typically, street racing is of course an illegal, dangerous and unsanctioned activity occurring on public roads. The Nomad Street Racer Shootout is taking place over a quarter mile, from a standing start, on a sanctioned track with Tag Heuer timing equipment. Like the public highway, however, there is no prep to the track surface.
The key elements are:
- Genuine street cars with MoT, and in street legal trim.
- Rapid-fire shootout, you win your race, you go back to the fire up lane to contest the next round, until the winner emerges.
- As previously announced, the event is on 27th July 2019 at Elvington.
- Sixteen-car field, and depending on the level of interest this may be increased.
- Pre-booking is required and details can be found via the Nomad Drag Racing Club's Facebook page.
- The Nomads are hoping to attract sponsorship and there may be a modest entry fee, all of which will be returned as cash prizes. More details will be announced nearer the time.
Doorslammers racer update.
14th May: Santa Pod Raceway's Doorslammers team have been in touch with information about this weekend's event:
With entries looking strong as we approach the 200 mark across all classes it's still not too late to enter, to check out the entry list and entry details click here.
Pits: Doorslammers racers who wish to leave their race cars and trailers in place for next week's Main Event will need to pit in their Main Event positions. If you wish to do this please make sure you are sited correctly by a pit marshal. Extra security will be in place during the week to ensure the safety of kit left on site, but racers must understand that everything left is at their own risk. Gates are open to racers from 10:00 until 19:00 this Thursday (16th). Racer tickets will not be posted out but can be collected on the gate. There are no ticket sales on Thursday, so racer ticket holders only please. Power is due to be switched on during Thursday afternoon.
Friday: Gates open for everyone else at 09:00 on Friday. The track opens at 09:30; runs will count towards qualifying in the heads-up classes whilst Big Bracket runners will get an extra day to test at no extra cost. After the track closes for the day there will be a drivers' meeting at the Doorslammers stage area at 18:30, please attend this meeting.
Saturday: Due to heavy entries in Pro Doorslammer and FWD the first rounds of these classes will be run on Saturday. The draws for these classes will be at 17:00 on Saturday, with the first rounds taking place from 18:15. Drivers in these classes must be present at the draw. Qualifying for all other classes will end at 17:00 on Saturday. Second round draws for Pro Doorslammer and FWD, and first round draws for all other classes, will take place at the Doorslammers stage at 19:45. A link to the running order can be found by clicking here.
Sunday: For those of you lucky enough (or good enough) to win money at the Doorslammers, payments will be made via BACS after the event so please make sure that Signing On have the relevant details.
Good luck everyone!
Heads Up: Redzone.bet are back.
14th May: Redzone.bet are pleased to be back at Santa Pod Raceway for the 2019 Doorslammers. Registered Redzone customers in the UK and Ireland will get the exclusive opportunity to bet on races at Santa Pod for this event via mobile or desktop; there is even free wifi on the famous Santa Pod banking! Betting will be available on the outcome of all Heads Up classes.
Visit www.redzone.bet/santapod to receive a bonus on your first deposit.
NSRA Nostalgia Nationals results.
13th May: Congratulations to the winners at the weekend's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway:
Outlaw Anglia: Simon Barlow 7.3441/193.85 def. Paul Hensher 8.0394/155.79
Nostalgia Super Stock: Claire Johnson (10.04) 10.0291/125.91 def. Jake Cawthorne (12.20) 12.1729/110.41 DQ breakout
Gasser Circus: Sean Milsom (10.00) 10.0993/13.72 def. Steve Matthews (10.84) 10.8962/118.04
Tri Chevy Shootout: Graham Smith 9.6707/142.49 def. Brad Strevett 11.7910/110.85
Outlaw Anglia ET Bracket: Phil Drewitt (9.50) 9.5799/312.97 def. Matt Cooper (8.10) 8.3184/163.06
Wild Bunch top four (average variance from index):
- Mark Coulsell 0.0585
- Phil James 0.0712
- Craig Larman 0.0947
- Callum Swinchatt 0.1093
Outlaw Anglia ET: 7.332 seconds, Simon Barlow
Outlaw Anglia speed: 190.60 mph, Simon Barlow
You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored NSRA Nostalgia Nationals reports, results 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.
SPRC Summernationals entry update.
11th May: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 1 of the official entry list for the SPRC Summernationals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 22nd-23rd June and which is a round of the Motorsport UK, UK National and ACU UK Championships as well as a Championship round for some other classes. You can check out the SPRC Summernationals 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.
SPRC Summernationals entry closes on Friday 31st May, after which a Late Entry penalty may apply. You can download the official entry forms via the Information link on the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
If you have any queries about event entry then please get in touch with Ian at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625).
FIA/FIM Main Event racer update.
11th May: Thanks also to Ian Marshall for forwarding us details of the arrangements for the FIA/FIM Main Event:
Thursday 23rd May
08:00 Gates open for the duration of the event
10:00 Signing On office opens
10:00 Sportsman car scrutineering commences (Scrutineering schedule)
Friday 24th May
07:00 Signing On office opens
07:00 Sportsman car scrutineering commences
09:30 Track opens for qualifying
10:00 Pro bike scrutineering commences (Scrutineering schedule)
12:30 Pro car scrutineering commences with FIA Pro Modified (Scrutineering schedule)
Saturday 25th May
07:00 Signing On office opens
07:00 Scrutineering commences
09:30 Track opens for qualifying and eliminations
Sunday 26th May
08:00 Signing On office opens
08:00 Scrutineering commences
09:30 Track opens for qualifying and eliminations
Monday 26th 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 Pro Peak Performance Test and Tune 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 Dragster and Junior Drag Bike racers please remember that vehicles should be pushed, not driven or ridden 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 Awards.
Racepak trackside support update.
10th May: Dick Koster of Eurodragster.com sponsor Post en Dros writes that trackside support for Racepak products now has to be chargeable:
As you're already aware, the Holley group purchased the MSD and Racepak brands some time ago, and has since been busy consolidating this and reducing their individual brand and overall group costs. Traditionally, the Racepak brand had always given discounts and other benefits, which allowed us to offer the free-of-charge on-site track support service, which many of you have come to respect and rely upon.
As these benefits from Racepak have now ceased, we can sadly no longer offer this free trackside service and will now need to charge teams a rate of €25 per thirty minutes to cover the time we spend assisting them with their car or bike. We hope that racers appreciate the level of service and dedication we have provided over the last few years and the associated benefit to their racing programmes, and that they will understand and support the need to introduce this new pricing model and will continue to value and utilise our trackside presence and vast technical expertise.
The first event under this regime is the upcoming FIA/FIM Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway.
NSRA Nostalgia Nationals notebook.
9th May: Ethan Lisle writes that this weekend's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway hosts will host the first round of Round One of
the UK Nostalgia Super Stock lifestyle Championship. "Twenty one cars have entered, which is a fantastic field and up on numbers from last year's first round", says Ethan.
"Some of our racers have already been out on the track this year in Pro ET and Sportsman ET, and others have competed in No Prep events across the country. We look forward to a
fantastic weekend of racing, and we are always looking for new members to join in the fun. Visit our
web site at www.nostalgiasuperstock.co.uk for information about the class and follow our Instagram
page @uk_nss to keep updated on everything UK Nostalgia Super Stock."
Colin Millar says that the Outlaw Anglias have a confirmed twenty two-car field for this weekend's event. "We're ready to put in a fantastic show for all our fans", says Colin. "We wish all the racers the very best weekend, and we thank the marshals and Santa Pod Raceway for providing us with a great place to race."
Eurodragster.com will be at Santa Pod Raceway from Friday to Sunday to bring you event coverage from the Nostalgia Nationals in association with John Woolfe Racing. The plan is for an end-day gallery on all three days, reports and results on Saturday and Sunday, and pit notes on Saturday. A free webcast will be provided by Santa Pod Raceway. We will post a direct Home Page link to our coverage when it commences but for bookmarking purposes you can check out our NSRA Nostalgia Nationals 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.
Many thanks to Stephen Billings for letting us know that the junction of Wymington Lane and the A6 will be closed for three days starting next Monday morning (13th). Click here for a map.
Stats package.
9th May: Many thanks to Andy Marrs for passing us an updated table of UK and European Bests now including those class and track records set at the Festival of Power. You can check out the record sheets by clicking here or by clicking on the European and UK Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Thanks also to Andy Marrs for passing us the official timing data from the Springspeed Nationals, 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.
JT does it his way.
9th May: The UK's John Tebenham and team were at the Festival of Power at Santa Pod to licence in the JT Racing Ford Pop, ultimately moving between Modurstang Pro ET and Bloodwise/Another Small f Super Pro ET.
"Licencing wasn't too much aggro", says JT, "apart from never having driven an auto except for a dumper! We had loads of problems in the first four burnouts, but then found
that the line lock was on the back wheels! Strange... sorry Ian for nearly running you over in the burnout! We eventually made the class and YES, in the first round went 8.93 on that dial-in, but
who left that red on the Tree?
"It was great fun and I've missed it loads. Big thanks to Pod crew.
"Pro Mod next - petrified!"
On that subject, our good buddy Remco Scheelings is continuing his series of Features on the Drag Racing Europe Blog and JT/Frank/Johnny Bee Good is his latest victim. You can check out Remco's Feature by clicking here.
VWDRC Heads-Up 1 report.
9th May: 14th April was the date for the Volkswagen Drag Racing Club's first-ever Heads-Up Race, which took place at the GTi Spring Festival at Santa Pod Raceway. Paul Jackson writes:
What a day it was, glorious sunshine and an intercooler-friendly cold snap in the air, the drag racing gods were smiling on us. There was a real cross-section of cars, a mixture of air and water-cooled, front wheel drive, rear wheel drive and even four wheel drive, ranging from Arndt Putzmann's 1000bhp Beetle to Samir Lukac's 4wd Mk1 Golf, with everything from Diesel Seats and Supercharged VR6 Golfs and even road legal Golf Rs in between. Make no mistake, whilst the majority of these were serious purpose-built race cars, we had two road legal, driven-to-the-event road cars, making this class incredibly diverse and open to all.
As this is a trial year, and not yet a Motorsport UK-approved class, it had to be run around RWYB at GTi SpringFest. Tthis meant military precision timekeeping to ensure that everyone was ready to go
at the correct time. Luckily Committee member Paul Jackson is a military man, so between he and Club Treasurer Abi Tether everyone was signed on, drivers' meeting complete, safety gear on, and
lined up on time ready to go for Qualifying Round 1. Round 1 of qualifying had some highs and lows. Carl Goldsmith was first out, and he found himself in the unique position of being the first ever
person to stage in VWDRCHU, and seconds later he was the first person ever to get pushed back in VWDRCHU due to a broken driveshaft. That's what happens when you try putting nearly 600 bhp
through a thirty year old year old Golf! Carl isn't one to let a snapped shaft ruin his day, so back to the pits and in the usual VWDRC family way, help/tools/advice/friendly abuse were soon provided.
The only problem was that Carl had a custom driveshaft to fit the six-speed 02M gearbox into his MK2, and the chance of getting one in the pits was a million to one... incredibly, fellow racer Sam
Lloyd had exactly that as spare! Fifteen minutes later Carl was ready to go for the next qualifying round.
Samir Lukac came out fighting in his Mk1 Golf, laying down an incredible 10.57-second pass
making him number one qualifier. Adrian 'Goose' Solly surprised everyone by turning up in his newly-wrapped A3 courtesy of sponsor EST Tuning. It looked fantastic in grey with the goose
silhouettes, a far cry from a car once described in print as crusty! Adrian's day only got better as the R32T put in a strong low eleven-second pass, but with a 139 mph terminal speed, so there was
certainly more to come from him. Chris Roylance of Volks Workshop fame was in his spur-of-the-moment eBay purchase Crappado; bought cheap just to see what it could do. Chris, being a
master tuner, had manged to produce 450 bhp from the completely unknown quantity 20VT, however he had fuelling issues due to a damaged pump and trundled down the strip for the slowest
pass of the day - twenty four seconds! Oly Whitehouse in the Beetle was completely down on power, this turned out to be a snapped spark plug which was quickly fixed. Sadly, Bruce Collins in the
beautiful Air Hoodlum Beetle was having lots of issues and could only manage a fifteen- seconds pass. After Q1 seven racers had met the 11.99 cut-off including Luis Silva's rapid,
smoke-billowing TDi Seat.
During Q2 Sam Lloyd finally got his amazing, completely home-built VRT Mk2 to hook up, earning him a 11.8-second pass and a qualifying position. Barrie Wallis put on a great Red Arrows-style white smoke display as the turbo let go in his MK7 Golf R, meaning an early bath for him. Chris in the Crappado had sorted out his fuel problems and produced a low twelve-second pass, not quite enough to qualify, but still very impressive for a such a last-minute budget race car.
The plan was to have two qualifying rounds in the morning and then move on to eliminations after lunch, however SPRC's Chief Starter Ian Marshall was so impressed with how well the class
had been run that he gave us a third qualifying round. This ended up being great news for a couple of the racers; Ed Keech had resolved his earlier nitrous problems and was able to put in a stout
11.77 qualifying pass, and it was smiles all round for Goose as he ran his first-ever ten-second quarter-mile pass moving him up to number three qualifier. Carl not having qualified yet, and
having been understandably cautious in Q2, needed to qualify. A monster burnout proved too much and unfortunately the huge drag slicks caught on a wheel arch ripping the passenger side
tyre to bits, so Carl was pushed back for the second time Chris Roylance was also trying hard in the Corrado, possibly too hard as the gearbox decided it didn't want to be part of a race car
anymore and scattered itself over the start line, sadly putting an end to his day.
After the dramas of qualifying, with five of the fourteen entrants retiring due to damage, there were nine cars left so the decision was taken to run an eight-car ladder with number nine Arndt as first alternative: he was guaranteed a spot, as despite qualifying third Damian MacDonagh had decided to call it a day after his Mk7 R had developed a misfire, and Barrie Wallis was definitely out after his turbo failure in Q2.
In the first pair of round one of eliminations Ed Keech lined up against Goose. Ed was keen to get a good start and managed to snap a driveshaft in the process, handing the win to Adrian who wrung the neck of the A3 and produced a new Personal Best 10.78-second pass. Arndt's crazy methanol-powered Beetle was having some fuelling problems at low revs and bogging on the line, but once the taps opened it flew. Arndt managed to reach 151 mph despite a fairly easy launch, knocking Sam Lloyd out in the process.
We were down to two pairs for E2, and Samir produced the quickest time of the day with a blistering 9.8-second run giving him a place in the finals next to Sam Chisholm-Brown.
Finals time! 650bhp of FWD MK2 Golf v 750bhp of 4wd MK1 Golf, it was going to take a lot for Sam to beat Samir but, as ever in racing, if you want to finish first, first you've got to finish. After a lightning start Samir's sequential gearbox was damaged and locked itself in fourth, letting Sam through to take the win although not to take away from Sam's very impressive 10.64 pass.
So that was the end of what was a fantastic inaugural event; the standard of cars was superb and the racing unpredictable as ever, the class is sure to go from strength to strength. The next round is on 2nd June at Das Auto Show at Santa Pod, so if you think have a quick VAG car and want to get involved then check out www.vwdrc.com or contact the club via social media.
See you at the track!
All hail No Prep.
9th May: Lancaster Dragstrip and the Straightliners organisation hosted No Prep True Street and Pro Street last Saturday, and Paul Marston writes that to say that conditions were trying would have been an understatement:
A lot of rain and hailstones, biting wind etc, you get the picture. Not ideal drag race conditions but this is No Prep. The weather naturally kept a good number of competitors away but there were half a dozen, like us, not intelligent enough not to go - or hard core to the bone - who made the trip.
This was my first visit to Lancaster Drag Strip at East Kirkby, as I missed the April meeting due to work commitments and so had to buy breakfast for all the No Prep crew. The track at Lancaster Dragstrip is outstanding, a real nice surface, plenty of grip was available, a great venue for No Prep. This facility has alot of potential. There was plenty of room for all the teams, no restrictions on pit space area, take what you need.
The event was run in mildly moist conditions, but as all of the competitors had treaded road-legal tyres they came to us and said "We are up for this as it's No Prep, which means it's the same for everyone!".
The competition was fast and furious, run in our usual format of three rounds back-to-back with everyone running everyone. This is done on a points system: two points for a win, one point for a defeat, and no points for a no-show. The winner was none other than Pete Lane in his mighty Plymouth Barracuda who took all of his rounds - one being a real squeaker which needed video camera footage replayed quite a few times to determine the winner. Hard-fought and well-deserved. Second place went to Dave Wiggins in his matt black nitrous SBC '66 Nova which was his second No Prep Trophy: Dave won the inaugural No Prep Nationals at North Weald in 2017.
Cash and trophies sorted, another race was won and done.
No Prep returns to this great facility on Saturday 7th September, the same weekend as the European Finals. Our next event is the No Prep Nationals at Leeds Airport on 29th-30th June. Although the No Prep Event is on the Saturday competitors can arrive on the Friday and, providing that they have Straightliners membership, can stay and test on the Sunday in between the bikes running their eliminations and qualifying.
Mucho thanks to Trevor Duckworth and the Straightliners organisation for hosting us, and to all of the No Prep Crew for running our side of things. Last but by no means least thanks to all of our competitors who braved the conditions and had a great time, much respect to you all.
For rules or other information E-Mail pmdragracing@gmail.com, call or text me on 07831 650230, or visit the No Prep Drag Racing Facebook page.
Web site updates.
9th May: With two Nostalgia Funny Cars at Santa Pod at the weekend Chris Eyre went along to see what happened and he has updated
his European Nostalgia Funny Car web site with an illustrated report. You can read check out Chris' report, videos and photos at
euronostalgiafunnycar.jimdo.com. "Thank you to Eurodragster.com for the videos, and the
event coverage too" says Chris (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed).Tierp Internationals entry update.
8th May: Tomas Pettersson has been in touch with a reminder that tomorrow (Thursday 9th) is the closing date for Tierp Internationals entry at the standard rate. You can enter on-line at www.dragracing.eu.
You can check out the current Tierp Internationals 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.
Swift snippets.
8th May: Further to yesterday's news item from Keith Bartlett, Darren Prentice writes to remind riders wishing to enter any FIM European Drag Bike Championship class that to be eligible for prize fund and travel money, including the promoter adjustment, you must be registered for the FIM European Championships. You can register for the Championships on the Trackgroup Europe web site at www.tgeurope.eu.
Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our own Simon for passing us the post-Springspeed Nationals points standings in the UK National Drag Racing Championships and SPRC Club Championships. You can check out the points on our OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Editor's note: Due to a badly-timed fire alarm (That's what happens when you let the waiter cook the chips - Ed) the rest of today's news update will have to be posted later. Keep the news coming to news@eurodragster.com.
Santa Pod message to racers and crew.
7th May: With the ever-popular Main Event nearly upon us and a high entry field, Darren Prentice of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch to remind and to ask the racing community for their help on a few matters to maximise use of available pit space:
- It would seem that the passing around of spare racer tickets is happening on a regular basis.
Your racer tickets are for your crew and family members only, please do not sell them on or give
them away for free (especially to people who would otherwise purchase a ticket). Tickets sales
are the major source of SPR income, this enables us to invest heavily back into the venue's
facilities, which in turn helps you, the racer.
- The passing around of spare Pit Passes is also not allowed, a corresponding vehicle registration
number must be entered on the pass to enable its use. If you have to change your vehicle then you need
to change your vehicle pass. The crossing out of a registration numbers on the pass will render that
pass invalid. If you are planning to change vehicles during an event you need to return to the advance
ticket office and swap it for a new one.
- Should these practices continue we will assume that the racer ticket allocation is too high and
we will adjust this accordingly.
- Pit bikes, scooters and golf buggies; the age limit for riding or driving any of these vehicles
is 17. The use of these vehicles is confined to the pits and staging lanes only, please do not use or
allow anyone to use your vehicle for unnecessary journeys outside of the pits and or staging lanes.
- Pitting for the Main Event is going to be extremely tight so we need everyone to help us with
this. There will be only one caravan or Motorhome allowed per pit, any extras will have to go in the
racers' camping area. The saving of space for another later arrival will not be permitted at the
Main Event. Pit placements will be made to maximise the space available, you will be asked to pit
up to and tightly against your racing neighbours, we can't have any gaps between pit bays so please
follow the instructions of the pit marshals. We also cannot guarantee who you will be pitted next
to so just because you have asked to be pitted next to someone doesn't mean it going to happen so
please bring enough crew and tools or be prepared for a small walk, however, we will do our level
best to accommodate these requests where we can. Please remember a double entry does not entitle
you to twice the room.
- We will also need racers that don't need their trailers during the event to remove them to a
dedicated trailer parking area, these are normally on the gravel strip next to the pits or behind
the return road banking. Having a tent pitched on a trailer and left in the pits will not be an
acceptable excuse to leave the trailer in the pits. Please only take vehicles into the pits that
are absolutely necessary, if you have a pit pass for a vehicle that can be parked outside the pits
please leave it outside.
- If we cannot solve these pitting issues then we will be forced to look at the class structure for 2020 to make sure that there is enough space in the pits. This may be done by dropping a class or capping the entry size.
Thank you for your understanding.
Tierp, Kauhava FIM confirmed.
7th May: Trakbak Racing CEO and FIM European Drag Bike Championship promoter Keith Bartlett has sent the following release regarding the 2019 FIM Championship:
Although extremely late in the day I am pleased to announce that the FIM European Drag Bike Championship will return to both Sweden and Finland in 2019. The two new rounds will be held at Tierp Arena on 6th-9th June and at the new track at Kauhava in Finland on 5th-7th July.
At Tierp Arena there will be only three classes: Top Fuel Bike, Supertwin Bike and Pro Stock Bike; there will be no FIM Super Street Bike at Tierp in 2019. At the new Kauhava track all four classes, Top Fuel Bike, Supertwin Bike, Pro Stock Bike and Super Street Bike, will be running.
There have been very long and drawn-out negotiations to make these two rounds happen in 2019. This has been due to much contractual, scheduling and overall direction discussions between the FIM and the track promoters for European drag bike racing going forwards. I am fully aware that this is far too late for many riders, if not all of the teams and riders, to have rounds of the Championship confirmed.
All I can add is that we are already in discussions on the provisional 2020 calendar and race schedule, which will be announced by early October at the latest, if not sooner. The final fixed calendar for the 2020 FIM European Drag Bike Championship will be confirmed late in October 2019.
We intend to hold meetings with all the riders and teams at the Main Event, and at Tierp Arena two weeks later, to discuss the whole situation between the riders and track promoters. We will announce the proposed dates for those two meetings later this week.
Swift snippets.
7th May: We would like to say a big Happy Birthday with hugs to Hayley Fyfe of the Wrathchild and Rebel Wild Bunch team. Have a lovely day Hayley; the cake date has gone into the scheduler.
Venom found in pineapples?
6th May: From UK Nostalgia Funny Car racer Tony Betts, who sat out the weekend's race, comes something akin to a spy picture:
Venom Racing have gone through a few changes over the last couple of months. It meant us sitting out the Springspeed Nationals; this is something we never wanted to happen but it was agreed with the team that this would be best. However we are back on track, and after a good couple of days at the Snake Pit there is light at the end of the tunnel thanks to Bob Nigh. Mark Luton and Ashley Phipps have come on board with Venom for the 2019 season.
We have also had a request from some guy across the Pond to join Venom for Dragstalgia. We think he looks familiar, but we only have an old photo he sent us. He will be bringing close friend Jerry to assist him. Big thanks to Geoff Stillwell for organising this for us. I am so looking forward to the coming meetings.
Supercharged Outlaws open 2019 account.6th May: The UK's Supercharged Outlaws have a record entry of eighteen for this weekend's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway:
Jim Maher of Good Vibration Motorsports has continued the company's sponsorship of our rounds with the Quick Reaction Award. They are a family run business, nothing is too much trouble, a wonderful service. Also Simon Boot of the Bootlegger has also sponsored this round.
There are a lot of new cars out this year and Aaron Windridge, after winning the Championship in his first year in the hot seat of the Team Thing altered, will be defending his title with an updated version of the old car to try to get into the sixes.
Swift snippets.
6th May: Lizz Charman tells us that, real life having got in the way and now sorted itself out, the time is right to
continue with the construction of her and Kev Charman's Top Fuel Bike. "We are under no illusions that there is a whole heap of work to go", says Lizz.
"Big thanks to Dave Branch for finding time in between his salt flat build to machine parts for us. Now it's all at Webster Race Engineering, massive thanks to Jon for his enthusiasm
and workmanship, as always. It looks outstanding. We will add more to the story as work progresses."
Further to Ian Marshall's news item last Thursday, Andy Marrs tells us that Kunmadaras FIM Super Street Bike victor Alex Hope is only the fourth rider to win events in two different FIM Europe classes, the others being Roel Koedam in Top Fuel Bike and Supertwin, Rikard Gustafsson in Funny Bike and Top Fuel Bike, and Christian Jäger in Supertwin and Funny Bike. Alex also overtook dad and Pro Stock Bike racer Chris Hope in all-time FIM points earned with 875 to Chris' 795.
Springspeed Nationals results.
5th May: Congratulations to the winners of the Springspeed Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway:
Secret Worx Comp Eliminator: Kev Perkins (7.99) 7.9004/169.748 def. Dave Smith (7.45) 7.6695/178.52
Accelerate for a Cause and a Cure/Pete Walters Race Design Super Pro ET: Brian Pateman (8.74) 8.8115/145.26 def. Ron Bartlett (8.25) 8.3277/164.23
Modurstang Pro ET: Brian Huxley (9.53) 9.5507/139.44 def. Bob Molden (9.52) 9.4954/138.10
Hutchinson and Dibley Sportsman ET: Ben Newsome (12.00) 11.5538/119.46 def. Kirstie Tramm (14.86) 14.8404/91.56 DQ red light
Phoenix Personnel Super Comp: Steve Hudson 8.9928/132.50 def. Paul Hudson 10.1847/127.68
Jon Morton Super Gas Shootout: Andy Harrison 9.9860/145.23 bye, Collin Morrice no show
Lucas Oil Junior Dragster: Daniel Weir (9.59) 9.5531/66.94 def. Frankie Fordham (7.99) 7.9085/77.46 DQ breakout
VW Pro: Simon Blackburn (10.60) 11.6897/126.62 def. Carl Goldsmith (10.85) 11.0008/130.13 DQ red light
VW Sportsman: Holley Sanders (14.75) 14.9972/87.52 def. Jon Crawford (15.75) 16.0127/81.37
Banks Nightclub Top Fuel Bike: Neil Midgley 7.1253/151.56 def. Allan Davies 11.7154/69.85
Funny Bike: Dave Batcheler 7.6386/160.73 def. Kars van den Belt 7.8002/176.40
Taylor's Trophy Super Street Bike: Dave Smith 7.5250/192.23 def. Graham Dance 7.5385/188.92
Comp Bike: Louis Davies 7.8608/152.20 def. Valentijn Sandtke 8.1148/169.16
NMCN 8.50 Bike: Jay Roe 8.6856/155.21 def. Ian Critchlow 17.7319/46.22 DQ red light
9.50 Bike: Craig Wright 9.5437/142.59 def. Alan Morrison Jr 9.4591/127.94 DQ red light
Accelerate for a Cause and a Cure Supertwin Top Gas: Michael Gooding 9.3984/150.12 def. Mike Nelthorpe 15.5751/84.26
Accelerate for a Cause and a Cure ET Bike: Steve Ashby (9.38) 9.4426-151.63 def. Gary Hester (10.52) 10.6169/126.14
In Posterum Junior Drag Bike: Blade Dummer (8.35) 8.3507/79.80 def. Ciaran Lucas (9.34) 9.2414/74.08 DQ breakout
More than half of yesterday's qualifying was curtailed by rain and hail but today's eliminations ran smoothly.
Congratulations to Secret Worx Comp Eliminator racer Jordan Payne who won the Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award, and to Modurstang Pro ET racer Bob Molden who won the inaugural Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award supported by the Twister Race Team. Both Awards have been reset to £50 for the FIA/FIM Main Event.
You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Springspeed Nationals 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.
Thanks to Callum Pudge for standing in as primary photographer for the weekend, and to Team Nutritionist Syd McDonald, Spencer Tramm and Elaine Hancock for catering. Thanks also for the compliments on the commentary, although the credit rests with Colin Theobald for making it so easy.
Tethys back in the hot seat.
5th May: The last time that UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Tethys made a public announcement about his racing, it was to say that he had cancer which forced him to take a step back. Although not completely out of the woods yet, Tethys is fortunate that his health is currently good; at the moment he is cancer free and can get on with life again, which seemed like as good an excuse as any to return to Top Fuel:
I'll be back driving an Erbacher car again, this time with backing from MustardBet, a sports betting and casino web site. Peter Walters at PWRD has done a design for the car, which looks great. I'm not one to make predictions about how I'm going to get on, but I'm not planning to just make up the numbers. The aim is to be competitive. Liam's impressive form at Easter has shown that the bar is going to be pretty high this year, but we'll give it our best shot.
It may only have been a couple of years, but it feels like an eternity since I last sat in the hot seat, and I'm looking forward to it. Roll on the Main Event. I can't wait.
Flynn's campaign Accelerates.
3rd May: Derek Flynn of Eurodragster.com sponsor Accelerate Your Marketing says that he was very pleased with the launch of the Accelerate for a Cause and a Cure Campaign at the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway. The campaign, headed by Derek and his wife Fiona Flynn with friend and business partner Nobby Clark, supports the blood cancer charity Bloodwise with particular emphasis on encouraging blood and stem cell donations.
Accelerate for a Cause and a Cure sponsored Supertwin Top Gas and ET Bike and fielded an Audi in Hutchinson and Dibley Sportsman ET, driven by Eurodragster.com sponsor Pete Walters, and a bike on which Les Harris took the Supertwin Top Gas victory. The honour of making the first passes down the track with the new vehicles went to Santa Pod Raceway's Chief Starter Ian Marshall and Starter Dave Warren at the Pro Peak Performance Test and Tune Day.
"The amount of support we've had has been fantastic", Derek told Eurodragster.com. "The number of people who have said they will give blood, and donated money, was incredible. We are so grateful to Santa Pod Racers Club and their marshals who all got on board, race teams are donating blood (Andy Flav below, well done mate - Ed). It was great that Les won the inaugural event on the bike, and Pete did well. Losing to Kirstie Tramm was fine by me as that was a win for Eurodragster.com! A big Thank You also to Trakbak Racing for their help."
Accelerate for a Cause and a Cure will again be present at this weekend's Springspeed Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway. When you are in the pits look out for the Airstream with Bloodwise decals where Derek and Fiona will be on hand and happy to answer any questions about blood or stem cell donation.
If you would like to find out more about blood or stem cell donation, or if you would like to donate, then you can find the Bloodwise web site at www.bloodwise.org.uk.
Oh no... three of them!
3rd May: Colin Millar writes that sunny Scotland's Team Flyin Outlaw Anglia team have been kept busy over the winter
building The Flyin' Saltire which is now ready to go:
The Flyin' Scottsman has been tweaked and the Flyin' Fyfer got a subtle new look. It feels like a long winter as we would normally have been at the Pod by now, but our daughter Megan got married last weekend so being her father and brothers we had little or no chance of finding an excuse to go to the Festival of Power. We did manage a few pictures before we left in the morning and I did manage to watch the fantastic live coverage throughout the vows!
Its been hectic to say the least. Young Barry Crookston, Scotty's younger brother, has been dead keen to get in on the action for some time and when the opportunity
arose to grab Ricky Hooper's old Outlaw Anglia Pop from David Cummings, who stays just around the corner, he jumped at the chance. We we were going to run it as
it was but being a bit anal it was a complete strip which, to be honest did the car proud. It's old, its heavy, but it's safe and it now has a shiny chassis tag thanks to
Mark Norton, as well as an ability to pass scrutineering at an MSA event. So it's all good to go.
I actually kept a little book and by the time it was all done we had clocked up 2160 man hours getting it to where it needed to be, but everything was done in our garage by the three of us with great help from Brian Ritchie, proud of that. The car will début the weekend after at the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals and Barry is in good hands with Jedd Guy as his Crew Chief showing him the ropes. His mum Lynn Purvis will however be a nervous wreck with both her boys racing at the event.
The Flyin' Scottsman has had a few upgrades over the winter and the proof will be in the pudding, so fingers crossed for a great track at the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals
where Scott hopes to unleash the upgrades and get a positive result. Attention to detail is huge and planning and implementing changes had to be done carefully to ensure
that the car will go faster without compromising the reliability. For a car fresh out of being built with not one problem to run down to a 7.73 not even half way through the
season is an achievement in itself. So good luck to Scott.
I will however have to watch my back as last year I raced Scott and he told his mum not to tell me that he was running gas and, being a mum, of course she never told me...
to my dismay as he shot past me into the distance! The Flyin' Fyfer is back fighting fit with a lot of maintenance over the winter, new beadlocks on the back as I was
starting to rip out rim screws with the increased power. It seemed an easy job but then I found out that the calipers, discs and brackets didn't fit and had to be replaced.
I bit the bullet and did the upgrades, and I thought that I would change the front wheels at the same time. A lot of refreshing of new rose joint bearings is now behind us.
We put a small amount of gas in the car last year and focused on getting every ounce out of the set up without changing anything, and the end result of a 7.37 at 184 mph
was really pleasing. This year we will be trying harder and raising our game so again fingers crossed.
The big challenge now is hauling ass with three cars and rigs to the track, every time we go it's a 2400 mile round trip for the three of us, we must be mad lol.
We did manage a wee break on completion of The Flyin' Saltire as Bradley Head, Scotty and I slipped away for a long weekend at the March Meet.
Just awesome as they say in California, if you want a proper race meeting this is for you, if you want Nostalgia then the CHRR is the one, both are strong in their own right.
We certainly got some funny looks coming back with our luggage but they popped right back up on the carousel in Edinburgh, perfect, along with lots of other goodies in
our suitcases.
Barry is gaining confidence and experience as we go forward, Scotty is hitting the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals but work commitments keep him away from Doorslammers.
He will be coming back in Super Comp at the Main Event so watch this space. I am doing three in a row which after the long winter is fantastic but it's so hard on us getting
back up the road for work on a Monday morning. However we will be a long time dead, well that's what I say to my Lynn as she cries at 3 o'clock in the morning when we
rock up to our house and the alarm still goes off at 6:30!
I'm really looking forward to seeing all Outlaw Anglia family and all our racing family far and wide, it's a huge part of our life and we just love every minute of it. If you see the Scottish flag flying at the Pod pop over for a cuppa, the door is always open and we've always got lots of square sausage. This year because Mat 'The Bender' Cooper is returning to Outlaw Anglia racing we have had to stock up on brown sauce and breadcrumbs: the brown sauce is for all the handles on his new shiny truck and the breadcrumbs are to be thrown onto his new shiny lorry roof just after midnight to ensure he is up bright and early for racing. I'm not going to go into details about the new stickers for his shint new lorry which will come out later!
We wish everyone racing at this weekend's Springspeed Nationals the very very best of luck, fast and safe my friends, see you all real soon.
Springspeed Nationals racer update.
2nd May: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us details of the arrangements for this weekend's Springspeed Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway:
Friday 3rd May
08:00 Gates open for the duration of the event
11:00 Signing On office opens
11:00 Car scrutineering commences, no specific order
16:00 Bike scrutineering commences, no specific order
18:00 Signing On office closes
20:00 Bike scrutineering ends
Saturday 4th May
07:30 Signing On office opens
07:00 Car scrutineering commences: sign-on/scrutineering details
07:00 Bike scrutineering commences: sign-on/scrutineering details
09:30 Track opens for qualifying
Sunday 5th May
07:30 Signing On office opens
07:30 Car scrutineering opens
07:30 Bike scrutineering opens
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. Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET racers please note the addition of a fourth qualifying session on Saturday, which is scheduled for 18:15.
No race vehicle motors are to be fired up before 09:00 or after 20:00 on any day of the event, which in this context includes Friday. 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 Dragster and Junior Drag Bike 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 Awards.
Kunmadaras Super Street Bike report.
2nd May: Thanks also to Ian Marshall for forwarding us a report of the first round of the FIM Europe Super Street Bike Championship which took place at the Autós Motoros Fesztivál at Kunmadaras in Hungary:
Following two days of strong qualifying, with the number one qualifying position swapping between three riders looking for the first six-second pass, Mogens Lund ended up on top of the qualifying list with a so-close 7.008 at 336 kmh (208.78 mph). Steve Venables was not far behind with a 7.021 and closing out the top three was Rudi Zorzi with a 7.124.
The story then became about the weather. After the first round of eliminations, and the first pair of bikes in round two, we had lots of rain, but the track crew didn't give up. The track was dried and prepared and the remainder of round two was completed.
It then rained again and it looked as if that was it, but thanks to the huge efforts of the track crew the semi finals took place and we had the first six-second pass in Hungary: Steve Venables defeated Steve Mead with a huge 6.98 at 333 kmh.
That left Alex Hope and Steve Venables for the final. Time was ticking away and finally the last run of the day took place at 19:30. Steve left first but smoked the tyre at the hit, he able to recover but Alex was already way ahead and was not to be denied, winning the final with a 7.376 to Steve.s 7.579.
FIM Championship points:
- Alex Hope 117
- Steve Venables 103
- Mogens Lund 86
- Stephen Mead 72
- Lencsés Donát Dániel 57
- Xristos Agapidis 51
- Graham Balchin 49
- Yannick Richard 43
- Rudi Zorzi 41
- Jász Krisztián 28
- Mark Hope 27
- Tsakiris Sotiris 26
- Clemens Walleit 25
- Savvas Tiliszoglou 24
- Erich Gruber 22
- Steve Wood 21
Doorslammers day 1 now heads-up Q1.
2nd May: With the popular Doorslammers a matter of weeks away, 17th-19th May, and entries arriving thick and fast, James Forster of Santa Pod Raceway has a very important announcement about the structure of the event:
We are pleased to announce that the Friday has been upgraded from a Run What You Brung day to a fully-fledged qualifying day for heads-up classes. The format will be as per the Saturday, i.e. RWYB-based qualifying which means that there are no sessions: whenever you want to make a pass, get yourself into the lanes and put your run in. The beauty of this is that you can make as few or as many runs as you like, and with a bump spot shaping up in some of the classes, you may see some entries doing whatever it takes to make the cut.
And the best part yet? There are no additional fees due!
Bracket racers needn't worry about missing out either because they are welcome to use the day for testing or practice too.
Please note that the drivers' meeting for the weekend will now take place at 18:30 on Friday.
There are still some notable names absent from the current entry list, so if you're one of them what are you waiting for? Get your entry in now! For entry forms, the current entry list, rules, tickets and more, please see www.santapod.co.uk/doorslammers.php.
Swift snippets.
1st May: It's race day at the first event of the 2019 FIM European Drag Bike Championships, the Super Street Bike round at the Autós Motoros Fesztivál at Kunmadaras in Hungary. You will be able to stay in touch with events at Kunmadaras at www.kunmadarasmotorsport.hu or on the Kunmadaras Motorsport Facebook Page.
The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (below left) came with a note hinting that we may well see this motor in its rightful place at the SPRC Summernationals. If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at editor@eurodragster.com.
Thanks to Bianca Booij for passing us an account of the Pro Dutch Racing Pro Modified team's weekend at the Festival of Power. You can check out the Dutch-language PDF by clicking here or by clicking on the picture above right.
Springspeed Nationals coverage.
1st May: Eurodragster.com will be at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday and Sunday to bring you all the action from the Springspeed Nationals in association with John Woolfe Racing.
Our coverage will consist of real-time reports and results throughout each day, a gallery at the end of the day, and pit notes on Sunday. Eurodragster.com Photographer Julian is away covering a VW event this weekend so Contributing Photographer Callum Pudge has kindly agreed to step in.
You can check out our Springspeed Nationals Event Index, which also includes links 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.
Freddy gets Funny.
30th April: The UK's Grabham and Carter Nostalgia Drag Racing Team are excited to reveal the new-look Freddy's Revenge:
After copious amounts of hard work the team are pleased to announce that we will be running the Freddy II Austin A35 Nostalgia Funny Car body this season. We had planned to début the car at Dakota Raceway last Saturday, but in time-honored tradition we are still far from race ready.
The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed last year that we had taken twelve inches out of the altered chassis; this was in readiness to accept the full body, which we have extended by five inches since we last ran her at the Donny in the Park event at Shakespeare County Raceway back in 2001. The blown-alcohol Donovan Chevy will feed power through the Crower clutch and the three-speed Lenco gearbox through to the Strange nine-inch Ford rear end.
We are planning on running with the Supercharged Outlaws at the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals and Hot Rod Drags, and in the Nostalgia Cannonball at Dragstalgia. Robbie Grabham will once again be in the hot seat.
In parallel with the work on the car, we commissioned Craig Dixon of Altered Tees Apparel to produce artwork for both the Topolino and the A35 Funny Car, and we are pleased to offer a range of apparel and merchandise for sale, featuring both artworks. Dye sublimation is handled in-house, whilst DTG printing is contracted to Craig. Darren West of Power Race Graphics has produced a design for our new 7.5-tonne transporter, which we are currently readying for the Nostalgia Nationals.
Hopefully in the next few days we will find the time to update our web site and our Facebook page; we will let you know when.
The Rat works its Magic.
30th April: Andy Dibley, former UK National Sportsman ET Champion turned Jon Morton Super Gas Shootout racer,
was somewhat anxious going into the Festival of Power:
I had a new car, in a new class, and had only made two runs. I was well and truly out of my Sportsman ET comfort zone. That said I had the best people around to help in the form of Jon Morton, Andy and Luke Robinson and all the other Super Gas racers. I'd taken the term "shakedown" a little too literally at a RWYB a few weeks earlier. After a few tweaks to the seating position and padding courtesy of Andy at Andy Robinson Race Cars we were ready for the first event.
We used the Thursday as a test day to gain my licence. I needed to do a launch, half track pass and then a full pass with chutes out, all of which also had to be off a transbrake launch.
By the end of the day I'd only managed my half pass; at any point the car made a move I just got out of it. I spoke to many other racers who all told me "It's going to feel like it's moving
about a bit, just keep in it!". Friday evening and I did just that. Full transbrake launch, no throttle stop and kept my foot in. The result an 8.60, just a hair off a breakout for 9.90 index.
For good measure I chucked the laundry out too and that was licencing done.
Saturday morning and our third qualifier, I backed it up with an 8.56 and an arrow-straight launch. The car felt amazing! In the last qualifier came I needed to actually run something on the stop. Dan Page helped with a number to put in and we ended up running a 9.85. I didn't care though, as it was like getting two launches for the price of one!
In the first round of eliminations on Sunday we drew Dave Cherrett in the Dark Revenger. To be honest, I hadn't expected to make it this far in the weekend and had to pinch
myself a bit thinking I was going into round one in the Jon Morton Super Gas Shootout. Both Dave and I were new to the class, and he doesn't run a throttle stop so judges the finish line.
At the top end I just managed to put a wheel on him and take my first round win with a 0.010 margin at the finish line.
In the second round I drew Jon Turner in the Green Fish Barracuda, an absolutely stunning car! Jon had been giving me many tips over the weekend and I was grateful for his help.
That said, I knew I'd have to cut a light against him, and in trying a new hand position on the transbrake my hand slipped off and left before the Tree ran. Oh well, I was over the moon all
the same, and making it to the second round in what was meant to just be a test weekend made it all the more better! Well done to Simon Fulton who went on to win the event and to
Dave Fulton who collected the number one qualifier trophy!
I have a Thank Yous: Dad, without you none of this would have been possible; Jon Morton, absolute legend, couldn't ask for a better mentor in Super Gas; Andy and Luke Robinson, for making the car work for me; Rich and Pete Walters, for designing and painting the car, it looks stunning; and Jeff Bull for building a kick-ass engine!
We're back again for Springspeed Nationals this coming weekend where my main aim is to work on cutting a good light and figuring out the throttle stop.
No Prep returns to Lancaster.
30th April: Paul Marston writes that No Prep Outlaw Drag Racing True Street and Pro Street return to Lancaster Dragstrip for the second No Prep event of the year this Saturday (4th May):
No Prep is Heads Up Doorslammer Racing, eighth-mile, flashlight Start, no time, no speed. At the first event at Lancaster on 13th April Rod Atkinson and his Procharged Chevy Nova walked away with the big trophy after some very hard-fought racing.
The format for these events is quite unique to UK Drag Racing. Everyone runs everyone, so if for example there are sixteen competitors then you get fifteen races and it's done on a points basis. The points are posted after each session of races, usually three back to back. So the most consistent car that can make every round will have a good chance of beating a faster but less consistent car. There is plenty of cash prize money and some very nice trophies to be won.
The first class is True Street which is for proper but very rapid street cars, treaded tyres, MoT etc. The second class is Pro Street which is more a streetable race car class, treaded tyres, tubbed etc.
In both classes there are no limits on cubic inch, power adders or weight. It's Run What Ya Brung and hope you brung enough! We only enforce safety and cars are scrutineered. There is a noise limit of 105 db so full exhaust systems only please, no open headers - everyone passed last event.
So if you fancy some proper heads-up action then you know where to come. The address is Lancaster Dragstrip, East Kirkby, Spilsby, Lancs PE23 4DE. Racing starts at 10:00. For entry details or the rules E-Mail pmdragracing@gmail.com, call or text me on 07831 650230, or visit the No Prep Drag Racing Facebook page. Spectators are very welcome, admission is a mere £5 and gates open at 08:00.
Straightliners also run on the Sunday, so you can make a weekend of it if you wish. There is also the fantastic Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre which is well worth a visit.
Special thanks to our hosts Trevor Duckworth and the Straightliners organisation, all of our race teams and supporters particularly Drag Race Engineering (020 8597 9484) and Gary Springford who sponsored the trophies at our last event.
You can check out The Mad Welshman's gallery of shots from the first No Prep event at Lancaster on his Flickr site at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.
FIM Championships commence.
29th April: The 2019 FIM European Drag Bike Championships commence today (Monday) at the Autós Motoros Fesztivál at Kunmadaras in Hungary featuring the first round of FIM Europe Super Street Bike.
You will be able to stay in touch with events at Kunmadaras at www.kunmadarasmotorsport.hu or on the Kunmadaras Motorsport Facebook Page.
Perfect ET Award resumes.
29th April: We are very pleased to confirm that the Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award is to resume with a new sponsor. Courtesy of Supercharged Outlaw Chair and racer Andy Hadfield, aka Andy Fadster, the Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award supported by the Twister Race Team will be available from this weekend's Springspeed Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway.
The Perfect ET Award of £50 will be presented in cash to the first racer at an event to record an ET +0.000 on index or dial-in. If not won at an event then the Award will be increased by £50 for the next event; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the next event.
There are no Perfect ET Award decals, 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 Perfect ET Award supported by the Twister Race Team will be available at the following events in 2019:
Springspeed Nationals
FIA/FIM Main Event
SPRC Summernationals
Dragstalgia (Gasser Circus, Nostalgia Super Stock) NB One-off £50 with no roll-over
Bug Jam (VW Pro, VW Sportsman, Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET)
Mopar EuroNationals (Nostalgia Super Stock, Gasser Circus)
Green Light Nationals
FIA/FIM European Finals
UK National Finals
At the weekend's Springspeed Nationals the Perfect ET Award will be available in Accelerate for a Cause and a Cure/Pete Walters Race Design Super Pro ET, Modurstang Pro ET, Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET, Phoenix Personnel Super Comp, Jon Morton Super Gas Shootout, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster (eliminations only), VW Pro, VW Sportsman, NMCN 8.50 Bike, 9.50 Bike, Accelerate for a Cause and a Cure Supertwin Top Gas, Accelerate for a Cause and a Cure ET Bike and In Posterum Junior Drag Bike, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect ET of the event.
A big Thank You to Fadster, who says "Supporting the sport which has given me so much joy is an easy thing to do".
Thank You also to Track Announcer Colin Theobald who posted a one-off Perfect ET Award at the Festival of Power which, unusually, went unclaimed.
This weekend's 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 during qualifying or eliminations. All classes are eligible but the money will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event. If not won, the Award will increase to £100 for the FIA/FIM Main Event; if won then it will be reset to £50 for the FIA/FIM Main Event.
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/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award is presented in association with Cath and Tig Napier of the Bad Habit Racing Modurstang Pro ET team.
Swift snippets.
29th April: We would like to say a big Happy 16th Birthday for today (Monday) to UK Junior Dragster racer Thaliah Gibb. Have a lovely day Thaliah.
...and a step to the right.
28th April: Work commitments kept UK Modurstang Pro ET Team Capricious out of the mainstream last season, and Paul Baynton had not driven the Capri at Santa Pod for four and a half years before last weekend's Festival of Power:
We had had a few handling issues and an engine problem in 2018, so for the Festival of Power I needed to give it a go to try to see where the problem was.
Run 1 of the weekend was in the left lane. The Capri launched well even if the sixty foot time was down a bit, we ran 10.48 on a 10.45 dial-in with a 0.07 light.
I was pleased with that considering that it had been so long since I had driven at Santa Pod. On our second run on Friday the car launched OK but then turned
right and I aborted the run.
Saturday morning and back to the left lane and this time the Capri turned right again after about two hundred feet and then the back snaked a bit so again I lifted and coasted. Nic Williams had a look and we decided to take the rear shocks up a couple of clicks stiffer and to lower the tyre pressures slightly. Nic said he would try to watch this time. For the third run in a row we somehow lined up against James Oliver but Nic still came over to watch the run. The Capri hooked up this time, running a 10.52. Ollie came flying past me and I could see he couldn't stop, he flew into the field at a hell of a rate and in a huge cloud of dust. I turned off the track as quickly as I could so that the safety crew could give chase. After a few minutes I found out that everyone at the start line thought that it was me who had had the problem after my two previous runs. Fortunately Ollie and his car were fine and we seemed to have a car with which I could race.
My first round of eliminations was against Andy Thetford. I pulled a 0.07 light and lifted at the top end, taking the win light with a 10.70 on a 10.50 dial-in. Round 2 on Sunday morning was against Bob Molden. All the years we've both been racing and I don't think we've ever managed to race each other. I dialled 10.50 again but was too eager on the start and went red by 0.01 and ran 10.52. I was gutted but pleased that we were heading in the right direction.
It was good to be back in the Capri again and with reaction times of 0.07, 0.05, 0.02, -0.02, 0.07 and -0.01 there's still life in the old man yet! Laura will be back behind the wheel at the Springspeed Nationals.
Thanks to Nic and to everyone else who offered advice on set-up changes.
Swift snippets.
28th April: We were sorry to hear from Geoff Stilwell of the death of Gloria Gibbs, mum to Cindy, Debbie and Stephanie and wonderful wife to Steve Gibbs, who has passed away after a battle with illness. "On behalf of my family, all UK racers and the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame we send our condolences to the Gibbs family", says Geoff.
Multiple ACU UK Top Fuel Bike Champion and record holder Steve Woollatt has announced a sponsorship deal with GSF Car Parts who supply parts, accessories, batteries, tools and oils in their large chain of stores and also on-line. "It's great to be associated with such a big company", says Steve.
The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (right) is billed as "A teaser". If you know more, or if you would like
to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at editor@eurodragster.com.
Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our own Simon for passing us the post-Festival of Power points standings in the UK National Drag Racing Championships and SPRC Club Championships. You can check out the points on our OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Thanks also to Andy Marrs for passing us the official timing data from the Festival of Power, 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.
We would like to say a big Happy Birthday with hugs to Melanie Bond. Have a lovely day Melanie.
Web site updates.
26th April: Paul Lister has updated his Drag Car Anon site with pictures from the Festival of Power. You can take a look at www.dragcaranon.co.uk.
Event entry update.
26th April: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 5 of the official entry list for the FIA/FIM Main Event, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 24th-27th May and which is a round of the FIA European Drag Racing and FIM Europe Drag Bike Championships plus a round of the UK National Drag Racing Championships for certain classes. You can check out the FIA/FIM 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.
FIA/FIM Main Event entry closes tomorrow (Saturday), after which a Late Entry penalty may apply. Update 20:30: Sportsman racers please note that due to pit space restrictions this Monday (29th) is the absolute closing date for entry.
You can download the official entry forms via the Information link on the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
Please note from yesterday's news item that entry forms sent as mobile phone camera pictures will be rejected.
If you have any queries about event entry then please get in touch with Ian at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625).
This week, in The Dead Zone...
26th April: UK Pro Modified racer Nick Davies, Rob Loaring and the the ICE Automotive team had an eventful weekend at the Festival of Power. Not only did the still-under-development Firebird clock new bests but it also took Nick on a trip to familiar territory:
In the very distant past, 2006 to be exact, we discovered the value of wind tunnels by virtue of the fact that, without one, the movement of air behind a race car and what has become known as a potential dead spot is very difficult to identify, let alone quantify. Its effects were far more apparent as its prevention of the blossoming of parachutes behind the Havoc altered resulted in a journey into the field at the end of the fabled Santa Pod quarter mile. Damage was, thankfully, limited although as anyone who has had a similar experience will undoubtedly confirm, the post-extraction cleaning exercise is lengthy and not huge fun.
Fast forward to the Festival of Power and the proper début of the ICE Automotive/USAutomotive/BUA Motorsports '68 Firebird. The car had undergone some cursory testing at the tail end of 2018, but at the start of the season it hit the track, resplendent in its new PWRD-designed and Roberts Motor Bodies-executed grey, gold and black livery.
The team of Nick Davies, Rob Loaring, Scott Barnes and Dave Read had high hopes of continuing the development of the car, which ran 6.86 at the 2018 UK National Finals, despite the wing-clipping introduction of a 20% reduction in boost mandated by the FIA since the 2018 season - a rule change which surprised the team, given the relative uncompetitiveness of the turbo faction in Europe over the past ten years.
After missing both the pre-event Test Day and the first qualifier, the next couple of sessions were used to test a number of Winter initiatives, each of which showed some promise. This left just one qualifying session on the Saturday afternoon to make a representative pass. A 6.44 dropped the PB by nearly four tenths and put the team firmly in the #5 slot for a first round date with old adversary Bert Englefield in the BA Racing Hot Rod.
The extraordinary weather continued on race day. We were put in the right lane, burnouts completed and into pre-stage. The staging technique for a turbo car can be a little problematic and our choice to run a clutch instead of the tried and tested converter route hasn't especially helped and is an area which we need to refine. A slow sixty foot resulted in the blower car building quite a lead. The Firebird moved around a little in the front half but by mid-track was starting to haul. By 1000 feet the speed differential was apparent, but would there be enough track left to get by the black and flamed Hot Rod?
The win light in our lane gave a brief moment of euphoria, quickly followed by the realisation that the parachutes weren't pulling much speed off. It seems that, once again, we have a car with a dead spot and the chutes failed to blossom. Carbon brakes are great but they were not great enough to stop the Firebird going a fair way into the field at the end of the track. Damage was limited largely to bodywork which good friend Bryan Whitfield at Roberts Motor Bodies in Sheffield will undoubtedly be able to address. It would have been more extensive, but for the extraordinarily sympathetic manner which the Santa Pod Safety Safari adopted to extract the car from the field. They were so careful that it was just a matter of a clean-up and some running cosmetic repairs which enabled us to make the semi-final against number one qualifier Kev Slyfield.
We were in the same lane for the semi-final, and although our car ran marginally quicker we were no match for Kev, who ended a worthy winner of the event.
Huge thanks to our partners for 2019, without whom our achievements so far would not have happened: USAutomotive, BUA Motorsports, Roberts Motor Bodies, Tony Thacker and Friends and long-time friend Lawrie Gatehouse.
See you at the Main Event!
From sixteens to Super Gas.
26th April: UK Pro ET racer Sara Unsworth says that had you told her and husband Steve ten years ago that their Mustang would be in Super Gas territory they would never have believed you, but that is exactly what happened at the Festival of Power:
We started back in 2007 with Steve racing in Sportsman ET, running sixteen seconds and chipping it away to the twelves. After a drunken conversation in 2010 Steve encouraged me to enter Sportsman ET. A few more modifications, a rod through the block, damaged pistons, broken springs, ECU issues, two engines and two gearboxes later and we made Pro ET, running elevens before finally reaching high tens and Super Street. Who'd have thought our little stick-shift Mustang would be running in the tens, you have no idea how wowed we were.
Healthy marital competition and the excuse to give each other engine parts for birthdays and Christmas (better than diamonds and, besides, he wraps them in girly paper for me) has resulted in Steve becoming accomplished within the SN95 modular engine world. It's not been trouble free, trashed gearboxes and damaged internals have made it an uphill battle to finally prove that our little 2v 281 ci engine was capable of big things, something we always knew. It was just a case of getting others to realise!
Yes we're manual, which adds to the challenge, apparently it's not the way to be competitive? but two 10.900 tickets in the same meeting say different. It's a steep learning curve now that we're running with the big boys, dare we say tongue-in-cheek that it takes more skill to drive a stick?
Following an self-enforced eighteen-month sabbatical the team attended a Run What You Brung back in March, at which we had an indication that the new set-up was going to make 2019 interesting. Fast forward to last Thursday's Pro Peak Performance Day, and after a couple of mid ten-second runs it seemed that the new set-up and the driver were coming together, with a 10.03 to the team's surprise! Everyone was over the moon: we'd reached the low tens without really trying and still with slow shifts.
Onto the first round of Pro ET qualifying on Friday and I'll be honest and say that I was very apprehensive thinking that I'd not get it below ten seconds, but again the current set-up was outperforming everything which we and most other people thought possible. The first qualifying run was a 9.94! Words cannot even start to express how ecstatic we are!
Our plan now is to continue to run in Pro ET and to gain more experience with the set-up. It turns out that we're quick enough for Super Gas - we used to watch that class in awe back in the days of Frankie Mason, never for one second dreaming we could be quick enough - but currently we're only tagged for 10.00 so a new cage is required. We'd love to push it in competition to see how far into the nines we can get it. This will have to wait until further funds allow so if there are any chassis/cage builders who would like to get involved we'd love to hear from you... those big steel doors have room for a logo!
We're told we are now the quickest modular-motored Mustang in the UK and the quickest 2v stick-shift Mustang too, we're hoping that anyone who knows any different will let us know.
None of this would be possible without the skill of the other half of Team Gecko, my husband Steve who is going to drive too once he's happy with the set-up… I feel like a test guinea pig. He has toiled away in the garage building what I can only describe as a bit of an animal! His knowledge of the modular motor and skill is amazing. Thanks must go to Crew Chief Barry Halliwell for all his help and electrical support, Dave Withington from GFX Power Ltd for the electronic set-up, Sally Halliwell for all the cake and behind the scenes support for all of the team, to John Sleath for his advice and tuning skills. Thanks also to sponsors Mammoet Cranes UK, help and support from the guys at FAST for helping to resolve electrical gremlins, and Spec Clutches for shipping in record time. We appreciate all of the comments and congratulations on our achievement.
Swift snippets.
26th April: Lauren Molden asked us to say a big Thank You to her mum and dad for arranging a Two Seat Dragster ride for her birthday. "A big Thank You goes to Darren Prentice, Steve Warner and all the Thrill Ride team for making it an amazing experience!", says Lauren. "Thank you to everyone who came and supported/cheered etc, and a special thanks to Sarah and Darryl Howells for my personalised trophy!"
We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to longtime Eurodragster.com reader and occasional contributor Stephen Billings. Have a great day Stephen. We were only able to post an emergency news update yesterday so we were unable to say Happy Birthday to Maikel Gloudemans of our streaming service provider Doyousee.me. Hope you had a great day M@ik.
Web site updates.
26th April: Paul Bryan has updated his Flickr gallery with over 300 pictures from the Festival of Power. You can check out Paul's great pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/paulbryan_photopedia.
SPRC: No phone camera entries, please.
25th April: Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall has asked us as a matter of urgency to remind racers that SPRC cannot accept entry forms submitted as mobile phone camera photographs.
"The resolution on phone pictures is not good enough for printing", says Ian. "When you have downloaded and filled out your entry form please either scan it and E-Mail the scan to me, or fax it to the office, or put it in the mail to us. We will turn away entries submitted as phone camera pictures."
If you have any queries about event entry then please get in touch with Ian at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625).
Welcome Kejja Motorsport.
24th April: We are very pleased to welcome classic and retro car restorer
Kejja Motorsport as a sponsor of Eurodragster.com News.
Kevin Wray writes:
Kejja Motorsport was set up in early 2015 with a desire to transform battered and bruised classic vehicles and give them a new lease of life. By using all of Kevin's various car-related skills and then building a team around that we can offer a unique and personal touch to each car that graces the workshop floor of Kejja Motorsport.
With our combined knowledge there is no job too big or too small. Be it an axle rebuild or a full ground-up restoration we've got you covered. Operating from our fully-equipped workshop in Northamptonshire we have our own dust free engine rebuild room on-site as well as our recently opened unit which caters purely for bodywork restoration.
For any of your automotive needs when it comes to classic and retro vehicles give Kejja a call on 01536 762170 or pop into our workshop... the kettle is always on!
You can visit the Kejja Motorsport web site at www.kejjamotorsport.co.uk. A big Thank You to Kevin for his support. Please support those who support the sport by considering Eurodragster.com sponsors for your goods and services.
Event entry update.
24th April: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 3 of the official entry list for the FIA/FIM Main Event, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 24th-27th May and which is a round of the FIA European Drag Racing and FIM Europe Drag Bike Championships plus a round of the UK National Drag Racing Championships for certain classes. You can check out the FIA/FIM 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.
FIA/FIM Main Event entry closes this Saturday, 27th April, after which a Late Entry penalty may apply. You can download the official entry forms via the Information link on the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
Thanks also to Ian for forwarding us a tweaked final version of the official entry list for next week's Springspeed Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out the Springspeed Nationals 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 event entry then please get in touch with Ian at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625).
Super Gas Shootout update.
24th April: Brett Featherstone has been in touch with an update on the UK's Jon Morton Super Gas Shootout:
After Friday's qualifying the Super Gas racers held a meeting to discuss how this season's Shootout should progress. It was agreed by all racers who attended that class needs to be more open to racers wanting to double-class. Everyone agreed that the class will only grow if was to become more accessible to everyone including our European friends. You are all welcome at any event.
Shootout entry will now be £30 per team, for only those events which you wish to enter, pay at the event. It was also agreed teams must enter before first round of qualifying. The money will go towards a 75%-25% split winner/runner-up. The entry fee also allows a team to become eligible for the number one qualifier prize sponsored by Silverton Aggregates - trophy only if not paid in to the Shootout. In the event of a non-entered team getting number one spot the £100 will go into that event's prize pot. The prize fund will be split on a eight-car field and above, below eight cars and it becomes winner takes all.
A trophy will also be awarded for closest to 9.90 off the trailer in the first qualifying session, similar to other classes. Anybody wishing to add a small fund to this would be very welcome by all the teams.
A thank you to those who have kept the class going, Jon Giles for arranging for the Shootout series to start again, Stuart Doignie for not entering this year, Sharron and Simon Gough for convincing Debbie and I to keep this going, Jeff and Belinda at Jeff Bull Race Engines for all their hard work behind the scenes helping many racers in this class, to long time racers Jon Morton, Tina and Tim Moore for ongoing support for all the newbies, and to all the past and present sponsors who help make this amazing class just a little bit more appealing.
A big Thank You to all the race teams who participated in every class at this weekend's Festival of Power, what a great event, and to the unsung heroes who keep the race track in great shape throughout the event: you guys and girls work so hard to give us a safe track even though most people cannot see what you are doing after the finish line.
See you all in two weeks.
Swift snippets.
24th April: UK blown-alcohol altered racer Des Taylor asked us to say a big Thank You to Daz Chandler at DC's Hotrod'n'Race Shop. "Daz has been really generous in giving up his spare time to strip and freshen our Big Block Chevy and has got it ready so we can get the car out at the Nostalgia Nationals", says Des. "Without his help and enthusiasm we would have really been struggling. If anyone needs a first-class hot rod, race car or motorcycle engineer I highly recommend Daz. It's good to support the people who support drag racing."
UK Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Graham Smith made a little bit of history and kept a promise to Roger Butterworth when Snow White became the UK's first eight-second street-legal '57 Chevy in the class final at the Festival of Power (below left). Starting with a 9.24 Graham went 9.19, 9.15, 9.03 then 8.97 in the money round with Joe Stevens. "The whole team are elated", says Graham. "Huge thanks to our sponsors Brantwood Tyre Specialists, Serck Motorsport, Lucas Oil Products, Brentacre Specialist Insurance, US Automotive and to so many others."
Thanks to Mike Collins for sending us the usual preview of his column in the latest, 40th Anniversary issue of Street Machine magazine out now. As is often the case Mike has included something for the Nostalgia fans. Click on the images above right for the PDF downloads.
We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to our good friend and Honorary Eurodragster.com Staff Member Colin Roaf. Have a great day Colin. Happy Birthday also to Super Street racer Christer Gustafsson. Grattis Christer.
Festival of Power results.
22nd April: Congratulations to the winners at the weekend's Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway:
European Nitro Funny Car Series: Kevin Chapman 4.4514/282.18 def. Kevin Kent 4.2360/286.49
Motorsport UK Pro Modified: Kev Slyfield 6.2668/219.08 def. Marck Harteveld 8.7245/106.51 DQ red light
Secret Worx Comp Eliminator: Andy Hone (7.90) 7.4456/184.35 def. Robin Orthodoxou (7.45) 7.0312/189.59
Bloodwise/Another Small F Super Pro ET: Joe Kellett (7.85) 7.8627/169.76 def. Dave Catton (7.58) 7.6147/177.04
Modurstang Pro ET: Ben Newsome (11.65) 11.6678/114.75 def. Paul Brown (9.03) 9.0153/146.62 DQ breakout
Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET: Gary Lake (14.32) 14.5506/84.72 def. Ashley Symons (13.60) 14.0227/99.90
Jon Morton Super Gas Shootout: Simon Fulton 10.0142/132.92 def. Jon Turner 9.9097/142.04
Phoenix Personnel Super Comp: Leah Kellett 8.9154/164.85 def. Pete Creswell 11.0943/82.72 DQ red light
Lucas Oil Junior Dragster: Matthew Dowdy (8.17) 8.2064/77.78 def. Frankie Fordham (8.00) 7.9988/78.83 DQ breakout
Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator: Joe Stevens 8.2075/175.75 def. Graham Smith 8.9781/149.56
VW Pro: Ed Keech (11.99) 12.5955/96.47 def. Paul Jordan (11.00) 11.8582/137.68 DQ red light
VW Sportsman: Jon Crawford (15.93) 16.2839/70.38 def. Paul Walklate (15.15) 15.3637/89.08
Wild Bunch: Keith Crampton (10.83) 10.8830/116.73 def. Callum Swinchatt (9.05) 9.0317/144.38 DQ breakout
Banks Nightclub Top Fuel Bike: Steve Woollatt 10.0380/77.64 bye, Neil Midgley no show
Funny Bike: Jiri Lukes 9.0587/135.63 def. Kars van ven Belt 15.1001/58.82
Super Street Bike: Steve Venables 6.8363/198.99 bye, Garry Bowe shut off (fluid)
Comp Bike: Louis Davies 7.6351/167.29 def. Phil Leamon no time broke
NMCN 8.50 Bike: Ian Chrichlow 8.6290/160.77 def. Alan Morrison 8.4860/158.58 DQ red light
9.50 Bike: Adam Burns 9.5085/128.30 def. Alan Morrison Jr 9.5614/127.33
Accelerate for a Cause and a Cure Supertwin Top Gas: Les Harris 9.7385/133.27 def. Michael Gooding 11.0812/138.21
Accelerate for a Cause and a Cure ET Bike: Gary Hester (10.62) 10.6659/121.39 def. Jordan Kenway (9.80) 9.8196/135.68
In Posterum Junior Drag Bike: Meggie Talbot (9.64) 9.7913/66.77 def. Blade Dummer (8.80) 9.5309/72.61
Subject to official ratification the following records were set:
Fuel Funny Car ET: 4.236 seconds, Kevin Kent
Fuel Funny Car speed: 286.49 mph, Kevin Kent
ACU Top Fuel Bike ET: 6.062 seconds, Steve Woollatt
ACU Super Street Bike ET: 6.815 seconds, Steve Venables
ACU Super Street Bike speed: 211.92 mph, Steve Venables
The Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award was, unusually, not claimed so has been increased to £75 for the Springspeed Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway. Thanks to Track Announcer Colin Theobald who put up a one-off £50 Bruce/Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award although it went unclaimed, also unusually.
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.
Stoneleigh does Nostalgia.
19th April: If you can't make it to Santa Pod this weekend but want something to satisfy your automotive cravings, then Alan Martin suggests that you visit the Nostalgia Drag Racing stand at the National Hot Rod, Custom and American Car Show which takes place on Saturday and Sunday at the National Agricultural Exhibition Centre, Stoneleigh CV8 8LZ:
So that we can showcase what the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals and Hot Rod Drags are all about, our thanks must go to Ken and Bradley Cooper for allowing us to display their Back to the Past nostalgia Ford Flathead-powered slingshot, and Steve Ellis and Jim Usher for pulling out all the stops to bring Hemi Hunter to the party. Other exhibitors include the NSRA, Outlaw Anglia and Willys Wars. What's not to like?
It's a huge show, both indoor and outdoor, and promises to be a great action-packed weekend. If you're in that neck of the woods then stop by and have a chat. We'd love to see you.
Festival of Power racer update.
16th April: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us details of the arrangements for this weekend's UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway:
Thursday 18th April
08:00 Gates open for the duration of the event
10:00 Signing On office opens
10:00 Car scrutineering commences, no specific order
16:00 Bike scrutineering commences, no specific order
18:00 Signing On office closes
Friday 19th April
07:00 Signing On office opens
07:00 Car scrutineering commences: sign-on/scrutineering details
07:00 Bike scrutineering commences: sign-on/scrutineering details
09:30 Track opens for qualifying
Saturday 20th April
07:30 Signing On office opens
07:30 Car scrutineering commences
07:30 Bike scrutineering commences
09:30 Track opens for qualifying and eliminations
Sunday 21st April
07:30 Signing On office opens
07:30 Car scrutineering opens
07:30 Bike scrutineering opens
09:30 Track opens for qualifying and eliminations
Wild Bunch and Supertwin Top Gas racers please note that your schedules have changed.
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 Thursday's Pro Peak Performance Test and Tune 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 Dragster and Junior Drag Bike 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 the Eurodragster.com Perfect Light Award.
Thirty Nicholson years.
16th April: Belinda Nicholson tells us that her husband, UK Motorsport UK Pro Modified racer Wayne Nicholson, started racing thirty years ago this weekend:
My then-boyfriend Wayne started racing in a Ford Pop called Born To Run. He was entered into the Rover V8 Challenge, and this is where we started our future together as a racing family. Little did we realise that thirty years on Wayne would end up running a Pro Modified Corvette which would reach speeds in excess of 220 mph and run low sixes.
Even when our children Gareth and Joe came along we still managed to race as a family and the boys grew up around the track, making lots of friends whom we now know as family. Drag racing is an integral part of our lives. The Santa Pod team and crew, plus all the racers and their families all make up our extended family.
We truly feel blessed to be part of this amazing sport. Wayne has always said life is not a rehearsal. Drag racing is hard work, blood, sweat and tears, quite a few cross words... but when it all goes right there is nowhere on earth you would rather be. Working until early hours of the morning to get the car ready for the next day's qualifying rounds, leading onto eliminations and having that one PB which allows the whole team to join in the exhilarating mind-blowing adrenaline rush known as drag racing!
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our fans, all of the Santa Pod team, and all of our crew past and present. Over the last thirty years you have all helped to make my husband's dreams come true, enabling him to run Pro Modified racing team. Thank you from Belinda Nicholson and all of the Lucky Devil team.
Perfect Light Award continues.
16th April: UK Modurstang Pro ET racers Cath and Tig Napier have confirmed the renewal of the
Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award for the 2019 season.
£50 will be available for the first 0.000 Reaction Time at the following events, all at Santa Pod Raceway:
Festival of Power
Springspeed Nationals
FIA/FIM Main Event
SPRC Summernationals
Dragstalgia
Bug Jam (Fuel FC, VWs, Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET, Outlaw Anglia, Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator)
Mopar EuroNationals (Motorsport UK Pro Modified, Nostalgia Super Stock, Gasser Circus)
Green Light Nationals
FIA/FIM European Finals
UK National Finals
The money will be paid in cash to the first racer to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds during qualifying or eliminations. All classes are eligible but the money will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event. If not won, the Award will increase by £25 for the next event; if won then it will be reset to £50 for the next event.
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). Cath Napier tells us that despite temptation she and Tig will not be insisting upon Pentastar decals.
A big Thank You to Cath and Tig Napier for their continued support.
VWDRC Heads-Up result.
14th April: Congratulations to Sam Chisholm-Brown who won the inaugural VWDRC Heads-Up race at today's GTi Spring Festival at Santa Pod Raceway:
Sam Chisholm-Brown 10.6461/134.82 def. Samir Lukac 19.3504/51.99
Sam qualified #1 with a 10.5502/137.70 from his Golf and met #2 qualifier Samir Lukac in the final.
You can check out VWDRC Heads-Up qualifying and elimination results and view our GTi Spring Festival photo gallery, which are presented in association with John Woofe 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.
You can check out a photo gallery from our other weekend coverage, Saturday's VHRA Vintage Nationals also at Santa Pod, by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Dahl opens 2019 account.
14th April: Having left the Sunshine Express Top Fuel Bike with Bill Hahn Jr at the Hahn Racecraft HQ since the 2018 Manufacturers Cup World Finals 2018, Norway's Sverre Dahl and the team returned to South Georgia Motorsports Park to contest round one of this year's series. Marcus Möller writes:
During the 2018 Finals Sverre won a "pedal" fest in E1 against Dave Vantine but got defeated in the semi-finals against Mitch Brown. The 2019 Manufacturers Cup kicked off at the same track. Sverre and the team arrived Hahns Racecraft a week before the race, packed up and went to the track.
Due to rain there was no qualifying on the Friday, but there were three runs on the Saturday although only two participants in the third round. Q1 took place at noon on Saturday and Sverre went 6.11/218! A couple of hours later Q2 took place and Sverre ran 6.12/222 which was the last run for the team this time. A rod bearing failure, with a broken rod and crank as result, put an end to this journey.
Regardless of the outcome of this race the Sunshine Express team's plan was to pack up the bike, spare parts, tools and so on and to send it back to its home in Norway and to continue their schedule for 2019 which is to go to Gardermoen and the two events at Tierp Arena.
Sverre and the Sunshine Express Top Fuel Bike Team would like to thank Romerike Drag Bike Klubb, Hahn Racecraft (US), NMF, Gigant Norge, Videoutstyr AS, Tools AS and Tommy Holte, all of whom made this journey possible.
Adding up to a great season.
14th April: Andy Thetford, UK Pro ET racer and sponsor of Nitro FM, has been in touch to thank Thompson Elphick Chartered Accountancy for their continued generosity in sponsoring the Insanity Drag Racing Camaro for the 2019 season:
Thompson Elphick's enthusiasm for drag racing is absolutely infectious. With their help we are now able to campaign in a full year's racing, as well as being able to compete in The Doorslammers, possibly Europe's biggest cash drag racing event of the year.
Thompson Elphick, of Aylesford in Kent, are able to assist in all forms of accountancy from individuals to large companies, Call them for a friendly chat on 01622 790052 or E-Mail info@thompsonelphick.co.uk.
Salt with your Top Fuel.
14th April: Having set a new class recordof 258.679 mph at Bonneville Speed Week last August, Geof Stilwell and the 7707 Salt Shaker land speed racing team have started work on updating the car for the 2019 regulations. Geoff writes:
On our last run, made to back up the record, we suffered a series of issues which led to some pretty major damage. What we did not know was that the car had caught fire and in fact the inlet manifold between the supercharger and the engine block had cracked and then the fuel had caught fire burning a hole where into which you could put three or four fingers. So, with the fuel burning it made the mixture go weak on that cylinder. The piston got very hot and seized in the cylinder causing the con rod to snap and then try to escape through the wall of the block. The motor had also developed an oil leak from somewhere which had also caught fire. At the same time again what we did not know was that with all the extra horsepower we had with this motor it had actually broken off at least five of the pinion teeth. To coin a phrase, we were extremely lucky. The repercussions of the fire were pretty serious in that the fire had been quite intense so not only had it destroyed magnesium inlet manifold, but it had melted the secondary parachute cable, the parachute packing and the transmission blanket. All this was going on behind me and I had no idea at all the car had been on fire.
But the point was we got the record.
To comply with the 2019 rules meant changing all the tubing around the cockpit. The car has a new home now in Pomona, Los Angeles with full workshop facilities which makes life much easier with welding, grinding etc etc. In changing things around we have completely redesigned the cockpit making it more comfortable to drive and easier to get in and get out of. We have put the chute buttons and the shift button on the steering wheel. The chutes now have an electronic ejection system so I don't have to take my hands off the wheel. In addition we have changed the rev counter as the digital counter is actually quite difficult to read when going over the bumps at Bonneville. A new Racepak on-board computer system has been ordered. Safety is a real factor and we have decided to increase the on-board to four instead of the usual two, that way we have two on the motor and two on me.
Now to the most important part: the heart of 7707 for 2019 will be a Brad Anderson billet block and heads with a 14/71 supercharger and twin 44 amp magnetos. This is being put together by well know land speed racer John Beck of Vintage Hot Rods. Running on a diet of 70% nitro and kicking out approximately 5000 bhp it will in efectbe a detuned current Top Fuel motor. This baby is going to kick some butt.
So what are the targets for 2019? If the weather and salt are good then it is our intention to increase the record from 258.679 mph and to try to go 300+ mph.
We also have some sponsorship opportunities so if your company or business would like to be part of this record-setting team in 2019 please contact me during UK office hours on +44 1622 755647.
You can also keep up to date on Facebook at Saltflat Racer.
Web site updates.
14th April: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with his first gallery of 2019, from the pre-Fast Show Saturday Night Special at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Mad's pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.
Event entry update.
11th April: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 5 of the official entry list for the Springspeed Nationals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 4th-5th May and which is a round of the UK National Drag Racing, ACU UK Drag Bike and some Club Championships. You can check out the Springspeed Nationals 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.
Springspeed Nationals entry closes tomorrow, Friday 12th, after which a Late Entry penalty may apply. You can download the official entry forms via the Information link on the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
Thanks also to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 1 of the official entry list for the FIA/FIM Main Event, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 24th-27th May and which is a round of the FIA European Drag Racing and FIM Europe Drag Bike Championships plus a round of the UK National Drag Racing Championship for certain classes. You can check out the FIAA/FIM 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.
FIA/FIM Main Event entry closes on Saturday 27th April, after which a Late Entry penalty may apply. You can download the official entry forms via the Information link on the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
If you have any queries about event entry then please get in touch with Ian at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625).
FAO racers and crew: SPR pit passes.
10th April: Santa Pod Racers Club's International Race Director Carole Ismail has been in touch with an important message for both racers and crew about the use of pit passes:
As from next week's Festival of Power we will be checking all pit passes. The only passes which should be used are the two passes which SPRC issue with your entry tickets.
Anyone found to be photocopying or using passes in the incorrect manner to gain access to the pits will be asked to vacate the pit area and will be dealt with by both Santa Pod Racers Club and the track.
The same will apply to anyone found in the pits with no pass.
You must all appreciate that we can only allocate two pit passes to each team due to safety and the space available in the pits.
Please help us to help you in maintaining a safe pit area with easy passage.
Post-Main Event Test Days.
10th April: A regular feature of racing in the USA is a track remaining open for testing on the day after an event. This concept has now arrived in the UK as Santa Pod Raceway has been hired for testing on the Tuesday and Wednesday immediately after the FIA/FIM Main Event (28th-29th May). The organisers are now inviting racers to join them.
The Test Days are open, at a fee, both to racers who wish to stay after the Main Event and to those who wish to drive or trailer in on either or both days. All classes are welcome, both car and bike, with the exception of nitro-fuelled cars and bikes which cannot be accommodated. Slicks or Drag Radials are preferred; vehicles with street tyres will all have to use a particular lane. Spectators are also permitted to attend, again for a small fee.
The track will be prepped and safety cover will be provided.
If you would be interested in attending then please contact Thorsten Appel either at payupsukker@web.de or via Facebook.
Ten years, still going stronger.
10th April: Jade Race organiser Michael Behrens is proud to announce
that the tenth running of the Jade Race will take place
on a newly-laid quarter mile at Jade Bay near Wilhelmshaven, close to the North Sea in Germany, on 19th-21st July.
After humble and troubled beginnings - three rain-outs in a row - the Jade Race has evolved from a RWYB airport race to the second official NEAFP Sportsman race in Germany.
The local officials liked the event from the start and have now clubbed together to finance a long-awaited track renovation on Mariensiel Airport, from which both pilots and racers will profit. Earthworks will start in April and will be followed by track prep by the Jade Race Crew. Michael has built his own rubber sled and tyre rotator which proved a success at the NitrOlympX.
In the pits at Hockenheim last year fans may have wondered what an altered was doing with huge tubework on the sides. It was not rocket science but a showpiece from Schrage Conveying Works, a company which is located close to Jade Race and whose board members have been long-standing fans and sponsors of the event. For 2018, they bought and reworked the blown altered as a rolling showcase, and had their own VIP grandstand and catering area at Jade Race and highlighted their Summer Fest with some impressive runs with Super Pro ET racer Dominik Reinhardt in the seat, as can be seen in this video. Schrage Conveying Works also presented the altered at several trade shows in late 2018. Michael Behrens would like to thank Schrage for this spectacular co-operation benefitting both parties, and hopes for a record entry to celebrate ten years of the Jade Race.
Registration and entry will soon be on-line at www.jade-race.com.
Street Racers return.
10th April: Continuing its quest for drag racing venues and events, the Nomad Drag Racing Club is thrilled to announce the revival of the Street Racer Championship. Howard Homes writes:
It is something of a misnomer to call it a Championship. This must surely be the quickest and most furious drag racing
event on the calendar for street cars. It's a really beastly thrash, with a sixteen-car field of some of the UK's quickest
genuine street cars in a rapid-fire shootout.
Following a brief respite since the closure of York Raceway, the Street Racer Championship now returns with a date and distance not too for from its origin, at Elvington on 27th July.
All cars must have Road Tax, MoT and insurance, they must be in road trim. The sixteen contenders are drawn from the hat and paired up. The winner from each round then returns to the fire up lane for the next round. Cooling down, downloading the data, reapplying your toupée; none of this is going to happen. If you win, you have to keep going, through to the final.
And, traditionally, bad weather doesn't stop play either. The Street Racer Championship is for truly fast true street cars. So when the heat is on, red lights and fan belts can get thrown, stuff happens. So the event can often be a great leveller. The fastest car may not be the winning car; anyone can get lucky.
But to win, you have to enter, or rather pre-enter for this event, for your chance to be the 42nd winner of the Street Racer Championship. The previous trophy winner needs to be located. And if we can't, then we'll build a bigger and better one!
The Street Racer Championship was originally an idea attributed to drag racing legend Dave Grady and we are honoured to continue the tradition.
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Not too late to go No Prep.
10th April: The 2019 No Prep Outlaw Drag Racing season kicks off this weekend, Saturday 13th, at Lancaster Dragstrip, East Kirkby Airfield (PE23 4DE). Paul Marston writes:
This event features two brand new classes, True Street and Pro Street. By definition they are both for roadgoing cars. The format is heads up drag racing, everyone gets to race everyone else in their class. So for example if there are eight cars in True Street then you get seven races, and the competitor with the most wins/most points will be the winner.
The entry list is not yet full, which we did expect: after all, it's a pretty early date in the calendar, a lot of cars are not yet back in one piece, and this is a pair of new classes. There is still time to enter and if you wish you can turn up on the day, register, join the Straightliners Club and get your IOPD Race License or use an MSA licence if you have one. Once completed you are in for a full day's worth of action packed No Prep Outlaw Drag Racing, with plenty of track time available.
With up to £750 up for grabs for a sixteen-car field there is plenty to play for.
We are also looking forward to also seeing the Nostalgia Super Stock guys at East Kirkby on Saturday.
Gates open at 18:00 Friday for competitors and at 08:00 Saturday for spectators. Admission is just £5.00. The action starts at around 10: 00 and there will be plenty of track time available for competitors.
Remember: this is an event run by racers for racers, it's a street car event. And if you are coming then let us know if you can - we know that a few of you are burning midnight oil to make it, we hope to see you all there. For more information E-Mail pmdragracing@gmail.com, call or text me on 07831 650230, or visit the No Prep Drag Racing Facebook page.
Many thanks to all of sponsors and supporters, in particular Eurodragster.com (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed).
Magnussen's team grows to five.
10th April: Polly Magnussen Motorsport is teaming up with Top Fuel Bike rider Kristin Hegre to campaign a multi-bike and motorsport team for 2019. Polly writes:
All of team members will be from Norway this year, with three racers in drag racing and two in motocross:
Polly Magnussen: Super Comp Bike/Top Gas Bike
Kristin Hegre: Top Fuel Bike
Lea Nadine: ET Street Bike
Tian Magnussen Dachert and Christina Mile: Motocross
Team owner Polly Magnussen, who has been a part of the sport for some years, is racing on a US-built Top Gas Bike this season this year as well as managing the team. The latest racer to join the trio is a young Norwegian newbie Lea Nadine, who will make her licencing passes in May to become a ET Street Bike racer.
This season may be Kristin's last, but the fifty five-year-old lady from the redneck hillbilly district of Toten in Norway is keen to go out with a bang and is aiming for big numbers this year. With the support of her trustd mechanic AK Nettum and PMM she should surely be able to do it.
"We are racing at all of the National and Nordic races this year which means Gardermoen, Tierp and the new track in Finland", says Polly. "The goal is also to run Kristin at the European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway in September, but this needs some work. We might give RF Motorsport a call and ask for a favour on this front!"
PMM would like to thank sponsors, friends and fans for all of their support. "We do this for the love of the sport", says Polly, "and because it's fun, nothing else. But it's a hard road to follow and we are so grateful that people actually care about us."
JT backs the Mugridge clan.
10th April: Jan Mugridge tells us that neither Tim, Nick nor Luke Mugridge were going to be able to race this year due to personal circumstances but that we will now see Nick and Luke at next week's Festival of Power courtesy of a family friend:
After having a catch-up with our good friend John Tebenham, who sponsored Nick's Super Pro ET dragster last year to help him gain his licence, he very kindly offered to sponsor not just Nick but Luke so that both can run at the Festival of Power. We are very grateful for John's friendship and continued support. Nick would like John to know that he is deeply grateful for his support, that he admires his work ethic and outlook on life and is proud to race from the JT Racing camp. Plus of course Nick looks forward to racing alongside JT in Super Pro ET and to supporting his Pro Mod efforts.
Can I also just remind prospective buyers that our complete Comp Eliminator outfit is for sale with the Wilson Doubledeck trailer reduced to £30,000 and Man tractor unit to £5,500. The Camaro is now available compete or as a roller. Engine and lenco are available separately. If you have any questions then please phone or see us in the Super Pro ET pits.
Thank you to Ian Marshall, to all at Santa Pod Raceway, and to Eurodragster.com (Thank you! - Ed). Happy racing everyone.
Mead and Sprout ready for 7.0s.
10th April: UK Taylor's Trophy Super Street Bike racer Steve Mead writes that he is ready
to go:
The set-up has not changed radically, as we were making good progress last year. I still have my friend and tuner Walter Sprout working with me this year and he'll be looking to get me into the 7.0s. With much of the Super Street Bike field already in the 7.0s and quicker we need to try harder.
This year I have help from GT Motorcycles of Plymouth which was founded by Mike Grainger, no stranger to speed himself and known as Britain's fastest grandad! He runs at over 250 mph on his turbo Hayabusa. GT Motorcycles is probably the biggest motorcycle dealership in the south. A Kawasaki, Honda, Ducati and of course Suzuki dealer and will be a great help.
Joe Elliott will be putting up with me again this year, with the difficult and important task of crewman.
I'm looking forward to the season ahead and the prospect of a new Personal Best.
Pro ET sponsorship 2019.
10th April: Modurstang Pro ET class sponsor and racer Mike lacey writes with an update on the 2019 Pro ET Sponsorship Scheme:
The class, and particularly myself, would like to thank all of our sponsors for this coming season's racing, which will be starting very soon at the Festival of Power. I feel very proud that I and a few others started this Sponsorship Scheme about twelve years ago, and that it is still running strong all these years later. A few other classes have noticed our success and have followed in our footsteps with similar schemes. Following on from this we also see class sponsorship as well, a great way to get your companies noticed for very little cost.
With Pro ET we have been lucky enough to have companies supporting us for many years. Some have been with us from the start, fantastic support from some fantastic companies. Our 2019 sponsors are Hauser Race Cars, Engine Data Analysis, NGK, Zannetec, the Supercharged Outlaws, Jon Turner Upholstery, Topspeed Automotive, Power Engineering, Full Tilt Racing, Daz Lift and Shift, VP Racing Fuels supplied by Santa Pod Raceway's shop, Double H Racing: Hunter and Hudson, two likely lads and Pro ET's own. Find them in the pits.
We would also like to welcome back MPM Oil, a longtime supporter of drag racing. Great to see you back. They have brought along with them SES Autoparts, who are one of their outlets for their fantastic range of oils, and all things vehicle-related.
Finally my company Modurstang is the class sponsor.
Thanks again to all sponsors present and past. If anyone feels that their company could benefit from class sponsorship, then please contact a representative of the class which you feel you could support. If it's Pro ET then either Lee Huxley or I will be happy to discuss anything you have to offer and get you on board with this fantastic sport which we all love.
Swift snippets.
10th April: We have two birthdays today. Ladies first and a very Happy Birthday to UK bike racer Lizz Charman, have a lovely day Lizz. Happy Birthday also to Santa Pod Raceway Track Announcer and Bruce's dad Colin Theobald. Have a great day Colin.
Event entry update.
8th April: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 4 of the official entry list for the Springspeed Nationals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 4th-5th May and which is a round of the UK National Drag Racing, ACU UK Drag Bike and some Club Championships. You can check out the Springspeed Nationals 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.
Springspeed Nationals entry closes this Friday (12th), after which a Late Entry penalty may apply. You can download the official entry forms via the Information link on the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
If you have any queries about event entry then please get in touch with Ian at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625).
FAO UK teams with multiple racers.
8th April: UK National Drag Racing Championship Co-ordinator Yvonne Tramm has been in touch with the usual reminder to racers who intend to field more than one racer in the same vehicle this season.
If you will be fielding multiple racers in the same vehicle this season then please E-Mail Yvonne at trammyd5@gmail.com with class, race number, team name and racer names. Information must be submitted by Wednesday 17th April.
If you have any queries then please contact Yvonne on the same address.
Cause and a Cure campaign to launch.
8th April: If you have checked out the official
entry list for the Festival of Power, or if you were tuned in to Eurodragster.com News last Monday, you
will have noticed that the UK National Super Pro ET, Supertwin Gas and ET Bike classes are sponsored by Accelerate for a Cause and a Cure, a new
campaign spearheaded by Eurodragster.com sponsors Derek and Fiona Flynn and friend and business partner Nobby Clark to support the blood cancer charity
Bloodwise with particular emphasis on encouraging blood and stem cell donations.
SPRC Chief Starter Ian Marshall will launch the campaign by driving Accelerate for a Cause and a Cure's Sportsman ET Audi S4 at the Pro Peak Performance Day at Santa Pod Raceway on Thursday of next week.
"Even before I was diagnosed with myeloma I was inspired to support Bloodwise by the late Paula Marshall", says Derek. "Paula was instrumental in
getting me into drag racing. I had done circuit racing but I wanted to go faster than 170 mph which I had done in my Porsche. Paula made it really
easy for me. Bloodwise, which the racers adopted after Paula's death, are very grateful for the support of the community and they will have
representatives at the track this season."
Derek has a long history both of racing and of supporting the sport having sponsored a number of racers, Eurodragster.com, classes including Super Pro ET, Junior Dragster, Supertwin Gas and ET Bike, with a special interest in sponsoring classes in which he has raced in the past. He also sponsored the Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards Scheme for many years in the names of Gold RV, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and Bloodwise, only withdrawing his backing after being hounded by an individual on social media.
Having put a lot back into racing, Derek is now aiming to put something back into life by raising funds for Bloodwise and persuading the racing
community to give blood and/or donate stem cells. The community has already responded generously to Derek's birthday fundraiser for Bloodwise on
Facebook, with the original £250 target quickly overtaken and the total on his actual birthday – Saturday just gone - currently over £1300.
Now a major effort is planned to encourage donations of blood or stem cells, both of which can also save lives.
"The benefits of blood donation are obvious and well-known but a single donation of stem cells could save up to four lives", says Derek. "We would like one member of each team to give blood or donate stem cells. I have had a quiet word with a few people and everyone thinks that it's a great idea and have already pledged to help. John Everitt, for example, will be giving blood and will consult his GP about cell donation. Both Andy and Luke Robinson have agreed to give blood as have Laura Turburville and Andy Flavell. Those who give blood or stem cells will get a special decal to run on their car or bike."
As well as Ian Marshall's drive in the Audi S4, SPRC Starter David Warren will ride Derek's Supertwin Gas Bike at the Pro Peak Performance Day.
Accelerate for a Cause and a Cure will then be present at the Festival of Power to spread the word and to encourage blood or stem cell donations.
"Santa Pod Raceway have kindly given us space in the pit", says Derek. "Accelerate for a Cause and a Cure HQ will be an Airstream with Bloodwise decals so won't be difficult to find. As well as racing, we will be on hand to answer any questions about blood or stem cell donation."
If you would like to find out more about blood or stem cell donation, or if you would like to donate, then you can find the Bloodwise web site at www.bloodwise.org.uk.
We are also very pleased to welcome Accelerate Your Marketing as a sponsor of
Eurodragster.com. "Accelerate Your Marketing specialise in having fun and helping people to have fun", says Derek. "If someone wants their
car prepared for a race track, or if they want to get a car then we are happy to help. We can provide consultancy on sponsorship and
logistics (for example, trailers and RVs). A lot of our customers are involved in historic racing. If you have a look at our web site
at www.accelerateym.comthen you can find out more and see examples of the cars
we have sold.
"We will be fielding a team in Sportsman ET in the name of Accelerate for a Cause and a Cure with Pete Walters and Nobby Clark driving the Audi. Nobby is a drag racer-in-waiting; he has previously been a circuit racer but is a longtime fan and has crewed."
UK Super Gas update.
8th April: UK Super Gas racer Brett Featherstone has been in touch with an update on the class and a call to SG racers attending the Festival of Power:
We have continued naming the Shootout after a legend of the class, and this year it will be known as the 2019 Jon Morton Super Gas Shootout. A vote between racers and friends of the class was held and Jon's name was rightly voted as the majority winner.
It's good to see some new names on the entry list including Andy Dibley with Jon's former car (good luck with your new venture Andy) as we have also lost two more big hitters for this season, so come on guys/girls nows your chance to have a go at the Championship.
We are pleased to announce that the number one qualifier award for each of the six rounds will be sponsored by Silverton Aggregates and Building Supplies, who have put up a trophy plus £100 per round, many thanks to one of East Anglia's leading aggregate and building supply companies. A list of all the class sponsors will be made available soon.
Can all racers entered in the Festival of Power please meet up at the Nova Scotia pit area after Friday's qualifying so that the 2019 Shootout prize fund can be arranged.
Swift snippets.
8th April: After a year of hard work, The Netherlands' Marck Harteveld and the Voodoo Hemi team held the official presentation of
their Pro Modified Superbird which was badly damaged in a crash at Santa Pod Raceway in May 2018. "I would like to say a big thank you to everybody who helped us with
this rebuild, whatever their contribution", said Marck, "but to all the Voodoo Hemi crew who spent so many hours in the workshop. Let's make it a great season".
You can read more courtesy of our good friend Remco Scheelings by
clicking here.
We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to UK Super Gas racer and self-contained Package Simon Gough. Have a great day Simon.
Eurodragster.com will commence its Jon Woolfe Racing-sponsored Event Coverage at Santa Pod Raceway this weekend with galleries and Webster Race Engineering/Nimbus Motorsport webcast from Saturday's VHRA Vintage Nationals and Sunday's GTi Spring Festival. Sunday's coverage will also include live results of the first VWDRC Heads-Up Race. You can check out this season's Event 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.
Pro8 for Pro Mod.
7th April: Finland's Jere Rantaniemi and Team Pro8 will début in the FIA European Pro Modified Championship in 2019.
The orange Pro Line Racing Hemi-powered 2013 Camaro will be seen in Sweden, Finland and Germany.
In the last two seasons Jere ran in the Finnish national Top Doorslammer Series, winning the Championship in 2017 and finishing second in 2018. The team's first
ever appearance abroad was at the Top Doorslammer finals in Sweden last September, a race that Rantaniemi won.
"After the successful weekend at Tierp we began planning to compete in an international series", says Crew Chief Niko Putkinen. This will be an international series
début for the whole team. Team owner Sami Hanhisuanto feels that the jump from TD to Pro Modified is surprisingly big, even though the JBRC Camaro
was originally built for ProMod racing. There are major changes to the FIA Pro Modified rules for season 2019: Turbocharged cars will be equipped with a boost
controller and the maximum allowed boost will be set at 36 psi. "To be more competitive we made a decision to go for a new power plant", says Sami. "We've already run two
seasons with a Pro Line engine, the 481X, and it churned on like clockwork. Pro Line Racing has proven to produce some of the most powerful and simultaneously
reliable motors on the market. The PLR Hemi has been engineered to provide massive power even at these lower boost levels the new rules mandate. I am happy
that we managed to do this as it allows us to challenge the top teams in Europe."
Experienced race driver and Pro Modified European record holder Andreas Arthurson of PPF Racing is excited that Pro8 has the equipment to mount a real challenge. "I will do my best to help the guys at Pro8", he says. "The crowds like turbos and Europe can certainly do with some more turbocharged Pro Mods on the grid. It will probably take a few races before they are up to speed, but they'll be a contender for sure."
"We are on the right track with our partners PPF Racing, Pro Line Racing, Moran Motorsports and Jerry Bickel Race Cars", says Niko.
"We will benefit from being PPF Racing's 'Junior' team tapping in on all their experience and support during the season. In return we hope to be able to help them on
their road to becoming European Champion."
For a team which has previously only raced in a National series, the coming season is going to be demanding. "Sure, it's going to be a challenge", says Jere. "But I believe we are up to it. Though I consider myself a mentally strong and seasoned race driver, I still feel a bit anxious. The competition in Pro Modified is extremely tough. Unlike other teams we're not familiar with most of the race tracks. However I have faith in my team and our equipment. Like most drivers on the verge of a new season I'm just itching to get behind that steering wheel."
2019 French ATD calendar.
6th April: Many thanks to Élodie Dubois for sending us the 2019 Association Trophée Dragster calendar for 2019, which takes in three dates at Clastres in France and to which all are welcome:
"We look forward to seeing you", says Élodie. You can find out more on the Association Trophée Dragster Facebook page.
Event entry update.
6th April: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 3 of the official entry list for the Springspeed Nationals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 4th-5th May and which is a round of the UK National Drag Racing, ACU UK Drag Bike and some Club Championships. You can check out the Springspeed Nationals 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.
Springspeed Nationals entry closes next Friday, 12th April, after which a Late Entry penalty may apply. You can download the official entry forms via the Information link on the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
Ian has also forwarded us a slightly tweaked final entry list for Festival of Power, 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 event entry then please get in touch with Ian at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625).
Swift snippets.
6th April: 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.
Santa Pod's new lane sponsor.
6th April: Independent energy consultancy The Energy Check has been confirmed
as a new Official Lane partner at Santa Pod Raceway.
Under the agreement the South Shields-based business will help to manage energy consumption and identify energy-saving opportunities at the home of the FIA European Drag Racing Championships. As official lane sponsors, The Energy Check's branding will also now feature prominently above the drag strip's left lane – to be known as The Energy Check Lane - for the duration of the three-year deal.
Caroline Holden, Commercial Manager of Santa Pod, said "We are delighted to announce this new partnership with The Energy Check. We know how highly-regarded the business is across a range of sports and have been impressed with the work they have done in helping football, rugby and cricket clubs, as well as other events venues to improve their energy efficiency. We are sure that our partnership with The Energy Check will be similarly beneficial to us over the coming years."
Head of Corporate Partnerships at The Energy Check, Shaun Martin, said "As one of the world's most iconic raceways, we are proud to have The Energy Check name associated with Santa Pod for the next three years. I look forward to seeing many victories for racers in the left lane!". Corporate Partnerships Manager at The Energy Check, Marcus Mellor, said "Over the coming months we will be working closely with the team at Santa Pod to help them in getting the best deal on their utilities and taking steps to reduce their energy consumption wherever possible."
Allard picture sought.5th April: Brian Taylor has been in touch on the hunt for a source for picture for Alan Allard, who is writing a book:
The picture shows Alan and Norman Barclay splashing through the puddles at Blackbushe in 1965. I think it is a scan of a picture published in a magazine at the time and I used it in Crazy Horses, but only as a small image. Alan is looking for a higher=resolution version for publication in his book. I have tried the normal sources without success, I know that lots of fans collect magazines so we might be lucky and lead Alan to the photographer or a picure archive.
If you can help then you can get in touch with Brian at brian@petrolhead.vianw.co.uk.
American Super Stock returns.
5th April: Since the demise of York Raceway at the end of the 2017 season, the highly successful American Super Stock Championship had to sit out 2018.
Howard Holmes writes that this won't be the case in 2019 and that American Super Stock is back:
Wheels were set in motion initially by Alan Perkins (PDRC Chair), and subsequently by Dave Billadeau (A/SS stalwart) and Howard Holmes (A/SS and Nomad Drag Racing Club). Discussions commenced with Trevor Duckworth, the protagonist of two-wheel drag racing and sprinting with his Straightliners series. Trevor has offered American Super Stock a four-round championship at Straightliners events in 2019. These are:
Round 1: Saturday 13th April, East Kirby, East Kirkby Airfield, Spilsby Lincolnshire PE23 4BP
Round 2: Saturday 29th June, Church Fenton, Also known as Leeds East Airport, near Sherburn-in-Helmet. Navigate to LS24 9SE
Round 3: Sunday 30th June, Church Fenton. Part two of this double-header weekend, overnight camping available on site
Round 4: Saturday 27th July, Elvington
Elvington is a big weekend event, with the final A/SS round on Saturday, but it's also worth stopping over and making a weekend out of it, there's much going on including the Ten Of The Best event.
As in previous years, American Super Stock is a dial-your-own-handicap bracket championship. As such A/SS is not just about having the fastest car, indeed it has always been a very inclusive series in which any American vehicle is usually acceptable, but the more muscular, of course, the better. As long as a car (or truck) is in the spirit of the series, and it's safe, then it's OK.
There are fewer rounds this year than in previous years when the Championship was held at York Raceway, where it had become a huge success and the halo series for the venue. "Now there is every chance Super Stock will return bigger and better, but for this year, it's great to be back racing again" says Dave Billadeau, no doubt looking forward to getting some fresh air under his front tyres again. "We're all looking for forward to the thrills and the fun and the competitive racing again."
Just two questions are left: whose name will be added to the trophy at the end of the season? And who has been holding on to the trophy? We think we know the answer to the latter, but will he be retaining it? There are two previous American Super Stock winners already entered into the first round, so expect the same competitive racing to continue.
You can find American Super Stock on Facebook.
3rd April: After a very eventful and expensive ten years in Pro Stock Bike the UK's Mark Smith, aka The Punisher, is changing classes to Top Fuel Bike. Mark has been in touch with an update on his new bike and those of his Warpspeed Racing team-mates:
Mark purchased Paul Gast's Pro Stock/Pro Mod chassis, which then underwent a vast transformation by Stuart Crane at Warpspeed Racing. The off-season was spent making a few modifications to the chassis, installing a high pressure nitrous system, brand new Ward two-valve engine and re-wiring.
The bodywork has been resprayed by MDH Body Repair Centre in beautiful 2013 Dodge Viper SRT red paint. Unfortunately for the team Mark chose to buy himself some new leathers, but you should easily be able to spot him at the track... what was he thinking.
With the ongoing support of their sponsors Warpspeed Racing, Greens Plumbing, MPM Oil, Draper Tools and MDH Body Repair Centre, the team are hoping for a successful and cheaper 2019. Mark, Kerry and Greeno are all excited about the upcoming season, with a few nerves chucked in for good measure due to the steep learning curve of a new class and nitrous, but they are well up for the challenge. Bring it on!
The Punisher's team-mates Stuart Crane and Dale Leeks have also had busy off-seasons. Stuart has made a few changes to his Pro Mod Bike: he has replaced his back tyre, replaced his gearing and fitted a new vacuum pump. The biggest change is that Stuart will be returning to a single stage of nitrous.
Dale decided late December that he wanted to change the existing fuelling set-up on his Pro Mod Bike, from nitrous to methanol turbo. Dale and Stuart talked the idea over and contacted Dan Wagner of DTM Performance in the USA, who was more than happy to convert the bike. Dale and Stuart flew out to the States to collect the parts for the fuelling system upgrade. They have worked closely with DTM Performance and are now putting the finishing touches to the bike.
Stuart has built a new Warpspeed turbo system and everything looks awesome. The bike is still 1640cc with an Owen Developments turbo and Hilborn injection system from DME. The final piece to the puzzle is the new Maxx ECU system supplied by tuning genius Steve Nichols in the USA.
All being well, Dale hopes to test before the Main Event so he's all ready to please the crowd in the upcoming season.
The Warpspeed Racing team will be at Santa Pod Raceway for the FIA/FIM Main Event in May, why not drop over to the pits and say Hi... you may get the added bonus of seeing Mark's delightful leathers, don't forget your sunglasses. Fingers crossed for a record-breaking year.
Bike Gamblers open to all.
3rd April: Supertwin Gas racer Robbie Dobbie writes that although the National Association of Supertwins has been wound up, there is still plenty to race for with a second running of the Bike Gamblers' Challenge, open to all bikes, over three events at Santa Pod Raceway:
Regrettably the decision to wind up the club was taken at the AGM which followed the Riders' and Drivers' meeting in February. With falling membership and the the closure of Shakespeare County Raceway, NAST's spiritual home for so many years, the end was inevitable. We would like to thank the tracks and everyone for the support which NAST had over its twenty five years.
Last year James Forster of Santa Pod Raceway agreed to allow us to run a Gamblers' Challenge during RWYB Saturdays to celebrate NAST's 25th Anniversary. We will be running this again by kind permission of James.
The format of the 2019 Bike Gamblers Challenge will be the same as same as last year. £10 in the pot and the winner and runner-up share the proceeds and each receive a trophy. Each event is open to any motorcycle or trike and will be run under ET class rules. Each round is stand-alone, no points carried forward, on the following Saturdays:
1st June: Das Auto Show weekend
20th July: BMW Show weekend
12th October: Straightliners weekend
Please note that if you want to stay overnight at any of these events then you must buy a weekend ticket.
The June and Julr events will finish at 17:00 and the October Saturday Night Special at 20:00.
Submit your name and number the week before, and if you like it then why not take it seriously and race in ET Bike.
Further details will be posted nearer the time on the ET Bike UK Facebook page, or E-Mail robbie_superpenguin@hotmail.com.
Swift snippets.
3rd April: Serck Motorsport are delighted to support the Quickest Reaction Time Award in Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator Championship this season. The team with the average quickest Reaction Time in qualifying will be awarded £50 along with a cheque presentation photo with their car. "Good luck to all competitors for the season", says Graham Smith.
The official web site of the UK's Wild Bunch at www.the-wild-bunch.co.uk has had a make-over and now features a bright new layout, updated photo gallery, sponsors links and all the latest news from the club who will be celebrating their 24th season during 2019. "We would all like to thank webmaster Ed Yates for all his hard work in producing the new web site, which we are sure will be enjoyed by club members and fans alike!" says Co-ordinator Claire Meaddows.
OCS/WBR back The Doorslammers.
3rd April: Santa Pod Raceway are delighted to announce the latest class sponsor for The Doorslammers which takes place on 17th-19th May.
Following last year's success, The Doorslammers is back and the OCS Group/WBR Race Engines are continuing their involvement with the renewal of their Big Bracket class sponsorship. Brothers Nic and Dan Williams of the OCS Group said "After last year's incredible Doorslammers event, we are delighted and proud to continue supporting the event by sponsoring Big Bracket. We were staggered by the sheer amount of coverage this event gained last year which made our decision very easy to continue. We really do look forward to seeing the biggest field of cars entered and welcome fellow racers and fans to see our race winning sportsman engine programme all built and specified in-house. We will be on hand at the event to discuss any engine requirements."
UK rules update.
2nd April: As the first round of the UK Championships approaches, Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall has been in touch with two important messages for racers:
Following the regulation change to mandate the use of silencers on Junior Modified and Junior Modified Advanced Dragsters and Funny Cars, there is some confusion over the required length of the exhaust on Junior Dragsters. The limit of 27 inches has been removed from the rule book to allow for the turndowns on the silencers used by some cars, therefore there is now no limit on exhaust length.
To scotch rumours of impending scrutineering issues: race numbers are required on all vehicles, however numbers and letters do not have to meet the Blue Book requirement of a minimum height of 6 inches as this is considered excessive. The Blue Book regulation is of course a requirement for circuit cars which must be identifiable from much greater distances than necessary in drag racing. The maximum required size for race numbers and letters in drag racing is 3 inches in keeping with the space available on some race vehicles. Should the timing crew have difficulty reading your race number then you will be contacted by a pit marshal.
If you have any queries then please get in touch with Ian at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625).
Event entry update.
1st April: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us the final version of the official entry list for the Festival of Power, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 19th-21st April. 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.
Thanks also to Ian Marshall for sending Version 2 of the official entry list for the Springspeed Nationals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 4th-5th May and which is a round of the UK National Drag Racing, ACU UK Drag Bike and some Club Championships. You can check out the Springspeed Nationals 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.
Springspeed Nationals entry closes on Friday of next week, 12th April, after which a Late Entry penalty may apply. You can download the official entry forms via the Information link on the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
If you have any queries about event entry then please get in touch with Ian Marshall at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625).
UK class sponsors.
1st April: Ian Marshall of Santa Pod Racers Club writes to welcome back returning class sponsors and to welcome new class sponsors.
Returning sponsors
Modurstang Pro ET: Providers of performance parts and modifications for not just late-model Mustangs but all kinds of American vehicle servicing. Mike can be contacted on 01608 678818 or Mobile 07774 712000 and please check out their web site at www.modurstang.co.uk.
Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET: Hutchinson and Dibley Ltd is a Buckinghamshire-based precision CNC engineering company specialising in the production of 'hard-to-manufacture' parts. The company has over fifty years of experience in most industries including defence, oil, gas and marine, as well as machining most common metals and plastics but also working with difficult materials such as titanium, magnetic iron and inconel. The shop facility includes CNC turning and milling as well as welding and fabrication equipment. The entire production is ISO9001:2008 approved and accredited. You can find out more at www.hutchinsondibley.com.
New sponsors
Secret Worx Comp Eliminator: Secret Worx specialise in drift cars and fast Japanese vehicles and many types of performance car work. They can be contacted through Facebook at www.facebook.com/secretworx.
Phoenix Personnel Super Comp: Based in Brixworth, Northampton, Phoenix Personnel provide driver staffing for many of the UK's biggest transport companies, as well as driver training and CPC courses. Have a look at their web site at www.phoenixpersonnelltd.co.uk, contact Carole or Emma on 01604 881664 or E-Mail enquiries@phoenixpersonnelltd.co.uk.
Bank Night Club Top Fuel Bike: The name says it all. If you find yourself in Maidstone, Bank Street is the place to head for your night's entertainment (18s and over only of course). You never know, you may bump into a famous Funny Car driver!
Taylor's Trophy Super Street Bike: Kathy Taylor is a long-time supporter of all things Drag Bike, on this occasion taking the Super Street Bike title sponsorship as her way of putting something back in to the sport.
NMCN 8.50 Bike: North Midland Construction, based in Nottingham, are specialist in water civil engineering projects. They have offices across the UK and can be contacted on 01623 515008. A big Thank You to Richard Newton for getting involved.
Accelerate for a Cause & Cure Supertwin Top Gas and Accelerate for a Cause & Cure ET Bike: Derek Flynn is, as we know, supporting something close to his heart and those of many others around him. Accelerate for a Cause & Cure is about Bloodwise, a very worthy charity. More details will follow shortly here on Eurodragster.com about Derek's involvement and how others can get involved at the track.
In Posterum Junior Drag Bike: A supporter of all things new and up and coming within the world of drag racing. The grass roots are very important to the whole grounding of the sport.
"Santa Pod Racers Club would like to thank all of the returning and new title sponsors", says Ian. "Their sponsorship is a great help to all of our racers and also to SPRC."
Swift snippets.
1st April: Ian Marshall also tells us that the Comp Eliminator index for the BB/AF Front Wheel Drive floor pan class will be 8.70 seconds. If you have any queries then you can contact Ian at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625).
Also mentioned above is Eurodragster.com sponsor Derek Flynn who tells us that a Bucket List item, a drive of a Funny Car, is to be crossed off courtesy of Super Pro ET racer Mark Flavell. We will bring you more on that when we have it.
Allan Davies asked us to say a big Happy 18th Birthday for today (Monday) to Comp Bike racer Louis Davies. Our pleasure Allan, have a great day Louis.
Turbo Technics back The Doorslammers.
1st April: Turbo Technics have been a partner at Santa Pod for several years so will be a familiar name to many fans and competitors - and they're back for more! The Northampton-based company were one of the first to sign up to the new Doorslammers event last year at Santa Pod and return as the primary sponsor of the Pro Street class in 2019.
Said owner Geoff Kershaw "Developing turbochargers for motorsport applications is a complex business but one that Turbo Technics excels at. We have developed solutions for our own competition vehicles, engine developers and for major automotive manufacturers. Turbos have been in our blood for almost four decades so we understand racing. This is the perfect opportunity for us to be associated with the ultimate power that's needed in this no-holds-barred competition."
With the first round of the National Drag Racing Championships looming at Easter, all eyes will be on these initial outings especially in the Street Eliminator class as this will undoubtedly spark a fresh wave of entries. With such a hefty prize pot up for grabs, the Doorslammers event is all about the winning so expect to see the best of the best.
Repeat sponsorship, new ride.
30th March: Dave Dibley writes to confirm that Hutchinson & Dibley will again be sponsoring the UK's Sportsman ET class in 2019 including trophies for the #1 qualifier at each event. This will be Hutchinson & Dibley's second year as title sponsor.
"I feel it is important to get people into drag racing via an easy route, as this is where I started off forty four years ago" says Dave, who used to campaign a 1967 Mustang.
In addition the team have acquired Jon Morton's '69 Camaro and have spent the winter modifying it to suit Andy who will be driving it in Super Gas this year. The Magic Rat is seen below on its return from Richard Walters' paint shop.
Andy will be making his first outing in the car at Santa Pod Raceway today, Saturday, with licencing planned for the Pro Peak Performance Day before the Festival of Power (Which will be webcast here on Eurodragster.com - Ed). Jon Morton and crew Neil will be working with Dave and Andy this season.
In return for the reveal Andy has set a Trivia Challenge for Eurodragster.com readers, namely to identify the inspiration for the Magic Rat's name: E-Mail us at editor@eurodragster.com if you think you know.
There will be more to follow about the new ride but in the meantime we wish Dave and Andy good luck and new PBs.
Swift snippets.
30th March: The official entry list for the Festival of Power is now up to Version 8 courtesy of Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall. 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. Ian tells us that there is likely to be one more update to the list.
UK Tech Team contact arrangements.
29th March: Mark Norton of the UK's Tech Team has been in touch to announce a new E-Mail address which is intended to be the first point of contact for the Team from now on:
For the past twenty six years the Tech Team have always been prepared, and happy, to field questions about the rules of drag racing. With the almost universal use of mobile phones and social media, the queries which we receive have risen to almost unsustainable volume. Those enquiring have often not firstly read the relevant regulations, and some of those calling do so without regard for the time of day - it should be pointed out that we do this on a voluntary basis.
As a result we have decided that a dedicated contact point should be established to ensure that a proper answer is given. Our new first point of contact will in future be drtukq@aol.com. Please E-Mail us with your query and a phone number, and your question will be properly considered and answered. In future, please only use this E-Mail address and not the contact details published in the rule book.
Toys R Us.
29th March: The UK's John Tebenham has been in touch to tell us that his dream garage contains what will hopefully a seven-second Ford Pop and five-second Corvette:
I'm starting with the Pop in Super Pro at Easter, then the Corvette at the Doorslammers and the Test Day. Hopefully, if all goes according to plan, we will be running both cars at the Main Event! I have Luke Robinson in charge of the car, he unbelievable, and Andy Robinson has offered to be on hand if I need him. Marco Maurischat and his Crew Chief are also crewing to make up this fantastic team.
All I have to do is to learn to drive these monsters. Great respect to everyone who drives a Pro Mod - I hope I can add to this great class!
Please come and see us and and say Hello to us, as we are working hard and doing our best to add to this great race track. And by the way, I would like to say a massive thank you to Keith Bartlett for keeping drag racing alive in the UK!
Formerly known as JT - now Johnny Bee Good - like Frank said, my way.
Sister fact.
29th March: UK Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Andy Bond made a good start with his Ugly Sister Chevy but what he describes as a "bump" at the 2017 SPRC Summernationals delayed proceedings. The return was worth the wait, though:
After a few bolts and some minor body repairs for both driver and car we were back on track - ironically returning exactly one year later at the 2018 Summernationals. The team struggled with bump box issues at first but eventually got consistency into stage. Once there the car left arrow straight allowing us to concentrate on the sixty foot times. Encouraged by this we started to use some of the potential power resulting in a 7.73/190.
It was fantastic to take the wins at Bug Jam 32, the European Finals and the Tri Chevy Shootout at the Hot Rod Drags. The points taken in the back end of the season resulted in a second place finish; the team were well pleased to finally be moving in the right direction.
Winning SPRC's Best Appearing Car for 2018 was a real boost and I would like to thank Eurodragster.com for running the vote and everyone who showed their support by voting.
The Ugly Sister has been in Crew Chief Martin's workshop, Tubeworks in Cheltenham, for some modifications and upgrades, and to shave a few more pounds off that waistline! She's been back on the roads of Wiltshire to the shops, the pub and of course the gas station!
The 2019 season is fast approaching and the team are looking forward to more seat time and a full season to progress the car, to explore her potential and to see just how ugly this year can get...
Swift snippets.
29th March: Our good buddy Remco Scheelings is continuing his series of Features on the Drag Racing Europe Blog with his latest victim The Netherlands' David Vegter and the PTTM Pro Mod. You can check out Remco's Feature by clicking here.
Now calling at Nitrous Station.
29th March: Further to the recent announcement of a partnership between Serck Motorsport and Santa Pod Raceway, Darren Prentice of Santa Pod has been in touch to announce that the promised Nitrous Filling Station will be up and running at the track from this weekend:
Launched in conjunction with Serck Motorsport, this new service represents another big step forward in terms of the trackside services which we can offer our racers and Track Day participants. The onsite Nitrous Filling Station has been installed within Santa Pod's Garage Shop located in the pits, and our trained staff are ready and waiting to carry out your refills at just £10/lb (including VAT).
The Nitrous filling service will be available at all events from RWYB Track Days to full-blown race events, and we can even offer a mid-week service on request to orders@santapod.com. Don't forget to check out the new Serck Motorsport product and parts display in the Garage Shop while your bottles are replenished. New bottles are also available to purchase.
Event entry update.
28th March: Tomorrow (Friday 29th) is the official closing date for entry to the Festival of Power, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 19th-21st April and which is the first round of the UK National Drag Racing, ACU UK Drag Bike and some Club Championships. Entry after tomorrow, if accepted, may be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can download the official entry forms via the Information link on the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
In the last twenty four hours we have posted Version 6 and now V7 of the official Festival of Power entry list courtesy of Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall. 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.
Thanks also to Ian Marshall for sending Version 1 of the official entry list for the Springspeed Nationals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 4th-5th May and which is also a round of the UK National Drag Racing, ACU UK Drag Bike and some Club Championships. You can check out the Springspeed Nationals 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.
Springspeed Nationals entry closes on Friday 12th April, after which a Late Entry penalty may apply. You can download the official entry forms via the Information link on the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
If you have any queries about event entry then please get in touch with Ian Marshall at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625).
Swift snippets.
27th March: Further to last Friday's news item Derek Flynn of Eurodragster.com sponsor Gold RV has bust his third target so far, £1000, for Bloodwise on his Facebook Birthday Fundraiser. "Thank you to everyone who has contributed", says Derek, "let's keep it going!". If you would like to donate to Bloodwise then you can do so at www.facebook.com/donate/1133215770194384.
The official entry list for the Festival of Power is now up to Version 5 courtesy of Ian Marshall. 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. Entry closes this Friday (28th); you can download the official entry forms from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
Thanks to Mike Collins for sending us the usual preview of his column in the latest issue of Street Machine magazine due out tomorrow, Thursday, plus bonus material exclusively for Eurodragster.com readers. This month the second PDF above will really wet the whistle of Nostalgia fans as it features an extensive report and pictures of a promotional appearance by various cars and bikes at a circuit race at Silverstone in the 1970s. Click on the images above for the PDF downloads.
We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Supercharged Outlaw racer Jim Usher. Have a great day Jim.
SFI recertification periods II.
26th March: Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall has been in touch with an update to last Friday's news item about SFI recertification periods listed in the UK rule book.
4.1 Flexible trans blankets require recertification after 5 years not 2 years, so the updated list is now as follows:
4.1 Flexible trans blankets: UK rule book reads 2 years, should be 5 years
7.1 Lower engine containment device: UK rule book reads 1 year, should read 5 years
14.2 Methanol supercharger restraints: UK rule book reads 2 years, should read 4 years
14.21 Screw type supercharger restraints: UK rule book reads 2 years, should read 4 years
27.1 Window nets: UK rule book reads 2 years, should read 4 years
61.1 Turbochargers: UK rule book reads 1 year, should read 2 years
The rule book on the SPRC web site will be updated to reflect the above.
If you have any queries then please get in touch with Ian at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625).
Swift snippets.
26th March: The official entry list for the Festival of Power is now up to Version 4 courtesy of Ian Marshall. 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. Entry closes this Friday (28th); you can download the official entry forms from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Keiran Letts of SPRC's timing crew. Have a great day Keiran.
Mugridge Sr retires from racing.
26th March: UK Comp Eliminator racer has been in touch to let us know that he is retiring from racing, although Nick and Luke are not, and so his seven-second David Monday Race Cars '68 Camaro is up for sale:
The Camaro is for sale completely turn-key and is ready for someone to race now. If there is no interest in the complete car then it can be sold
as a roller without engine and gearbox or less any other parts that someone might not need. This is a huge opportunity for someone to get into
racing with an awesome race car which they can just step into without having to wait to build or have the expense of building new. The car is
ready to run mid-sevens.
The race transporter trailer and tractor unit is also up for sale and has a compete living quarters on the upper deck with four beds, shower room and flush toilet, kitchen with LPG cooker, fridge freezer and microwave and hot and cold running water. It has on-board water and waste tanks. We have stayed in it at Santa Pod for six days. There is a two-tonne tail lift and race platform which will take a doorslammer or dragster onto the top deck. On the lower deck there is a large neck storage area which also houses an on-board compressor. The lower deck comprises of two large storage cupboards, workbench with three tool chests below. There are ample power points, lighting and tie down points. We have carried a Super Pro ET dragster, Junior Dragster and golf cart on the lower deck with the Camaro on the upper deck.
There is a quality Tectonics awning which attaches to the side, 12m long x 4m wide complete with all sides, front and rear panels. Rolatrac black pit flooring is also available.
The tractor unit is a MAN 26/430 TGA model with bunk beds. The tractor can go with the trailer or the trailer can go without the tractor. We have reduced the price; please see advertisements 17289 (race car) and 52529 (rig) on the Jeff Bull Race Engines Swap Meet.
The team's golf cart is also available. It is a petrol powered EZGO four-seater model with full roof and full rain covering. It has very low hours on the hour meter and has never seen a golf course. It has a towing frame fitted to the chassis and comfortably tows the team's Camaro.
FIA release Pro Mod EFI clarification.
24th March: Thanks to FIA Techical Delegate for Drag Racing Frans Steilberg for informing us that the FIA have published a Technical Clarification regarding a rule amendment for EFI in FIA Pro Modified.
You can download the Technical Clarification (PDF format) directly by clicking here or via the FIA regulations page at www.fia.com/regulation/category/101.
When grown men cry...
24th March: UK Fuel Funny Car racer Steve Ashdown says that the Undertaker team are looking forward to the 2019
Funny Car Series:
We went from such a great weekend at the Main Event, taking the win, to the European Finals where nothing we seemed to do went right. If you ever wanted to see two grown men cry then you should have come to our workshop after that race when Dave Bryant and I were almost definitely crying. I can honestly say it nearly broke us. Hopefully this year we will be more fortunate.
We have upgraded a few things on car after last year's devastation! New wiring, new plumbing, upgraded heads, new blocks, in fact pretty new everything! We literally had nothing left at all, which was down to some mechanical failures but also me with the red mist taking over out of pure frustration. I still have so much to learn to allow me to be named a Funny Car driver, the rookie in me just wants to stamp on the throttle and aim it in a straight line and hope for the best, but trust me there is a whole lot more to it. Hopefully more seat time will resolve this little problem.
I would like this opportunity to welcome some new sponsors on board for 2019 season:
Mitchell and the team at Signstar Graphics who are wrapping the FC and our trailer, these guys are absolutely awesome to work with very highly recommended;
Pat and his team at Atrium Marquees for sorting our new marquee for 2019, brilliant service and once again highly recommended;
The J+S group of companies: J+S Entertainment, J+S Facilities, J+S Secure;
Banks Nightclub and Cocktail bar, Maidstone Kent.
Of course we cannot forget the continued support from our old sponsors Dave Robey of Robey Scaffolding, this is his third year of supporting the Undertaker team. Thank you Dave for your continued support. Gary Brookes, fast2finish printers, once again their third year of supporting the Undertaker team. Gary, thank you mate for always pulling the printing out of the bag.
As usual Pete Walters has worked his magic and done this awesome new wrap for us along with new team shirts, T-shirts and hero cards which will be on sale very soon. Thanks Pete, absolute legend.
Of course I have to thank Dave Bryant and Gordon Smith for the opportunity once again to allow me to live my dream. Then there is the team who work tirelessly both on and off the track to give me an absolutely amazing hot rod to drive every year without fail. Thank you to each and every one of you for all your support, hard work, blood, sweat and tears you put into this crazy sport. I can tell you this: we may not be the richest team, or best looking team out there but I wouldn't want to do this with anyone else but Dave and our team.
Thank you to Rune at RF Motorsport for all his help and to our very good friend from the good old USA Michael Domagala of PMP for the blocks and rods etc.
Thanks to Santa Pod's CEO Keith Bartlett for giving us the Series which gives us something to chase, it's going to make it a very exciting season! Lastly thanks have to go to all the Santa Pod staff and crew and the girls in office for working as hard as they do to make sure that we have a safe and fast track to race on. All of you deserve more recognition than you do.
Keep up the good work and see you all at Easter.
100e Challenge nears first round.
24th March: Nigel Taylor writes that the first round of the 100e Challenge, to be held at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday 6th April, is filling up as lots of 100es are coming out of the woodwork:
Round 1 should have more than eighteen in attendance with twelve or more making a pass to get some sort of an idea on what times they will run. Scott Colin and Sean Pop Doyle from the Modified Ford 100e Facebook page have been busy not only on their own cars but also those of their other halves, as well as putting this series together. It's all shaping up to be a great challenge:
6th-7th April: The Fast Show
10th-12th May: NSRA Nostalgia Nationals
15th-16th June: The Retro Show
12th July: Dragstalgia (Friday)
13th-15th September: NSRA Hot Rod Drags
I'm looking forward to being amongst the 100e crew, as well as to the return of the Detroit Spinner and Paul Dale's Acute Angle 105e at the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals.
For more information on joining in with your 100e, or if you just want to follow the action, then get in touch with Scott Collin or Sean Pop Doyle via the Modified Ford 100e Facebook page where you will also find merchandise available for what is looking to be an exciting group of cars.
Swift snippets.
24th March: The official entry list for the Festival of Power is now up to Version 3 courtesy of Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall. 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, and you can download the official entry forms from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
Congratulations to Albert Carter who gained his Super Comp licence during a two-day course at Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School last week.
After 200-, 660- and 1000-foot passes on day one, Albert put in runs of 8.20/162, 8.21/162 and 8.26/156 to get the paperwork. "I would like to say Thank You to all the staff at Frank Hawley's
Drag Racing School, my sponsors, all the people who are supporting me and wishing me well, Tony Morris, Lex Joon and Terry Haddock for giving me an opportunity and advice at last weekend's
NHRA Gatornationals", says Albert.
Nigel Taylor has asked us to say a big Happy Birthday for today (Sunday) to his wife Sophie Taylor. "Although Sophie doesn't like drag racing she has never stopped me going and even gave me the go-ahead to get another 100e!", says Nigel. We would also like to say a big Happy Birthday with hugs to Lucy Moore who as of today is no longer a teenager. Have a lovely day both. No news update yesterday so we were unable to say Happy Birthday to Tog's good friend Karen Brumby; we do however know that Karen had a good day which included a portion of chips cooked in beef dripping and it really doesn't get much better than that.
No Prep Series update.
24th March: The ten-event No Prep Drag Race Series which has stops all around the country has some impressive car counts but there is room for more and everyone has a part to play, writes Paul Marston:
The world-famous Silverstone Classic features No Prep Cash Days. Sixteen of the fastest No Prep doorslammers in the country will fight it out over the-three day event.
There will be a serious pile of cash up for grabs at that event, plus a bonus race as well. We are very grateful to Mark from the Rodfathers for inviting
and hosting us at this great event.
Sywell will feature North Weald Allstars v York Raceway Veterans, fighting it out for team honours. We will publish the entry list for both the events soon on Eurodragster.com. I must say that team captain for the York Raceway Vets Pel Norman has got together a very, very impressive list of drivers. The North Weald Allstars captained by DRE Boss Gary Springford sure have their work cut out for them.
The first event in our No Prep Drag Racing Series season kicks off at Lancaster Dragstrip, East Kirkby, Spilsby, Lincolnshire, SP23 4DE on Saturday 13th April, the entry is filling up nicely but there are still spots available. For entry forms email pmdragracing@gmail.com, call or text me on 07831 650230, or seek out No Prep Drag Racing on Facebook. We would like to express our gratitude to Trevor Duckworth and the Straightliners team for hosting us at East Kirkby.
If you need any flyers or posters to help spread the word, or a digital image of our flyer or poster, again contact us on the details above. We sure do appreciate the help of people in the drag racing world, we are all in this together and need your support and help to spread the word.
Enter the Nomads.
24th March: Howard Holmes has been in touch with an introduction to the
Nomad Drag Racing Club, which is an all-new collective
of drag racers, enthusiasts and others involved with the sport:
Working together with promoters and event organisers, the aptly-named Nomad Drag Racing Club is on a mission to ensure the continuation of drag racing, predominantly at grass-roots and sportsman levels. The Club also aims to help the greater good of drag racing and the wider community involved in the sport and hobby.
Since the closure of two out of three of the UK's permanent drag racing facilities, Shakespeare County and York Raceway, the Nomad Drag Racing Club was born out of necessity, when the closure of the Pennine Drag Racing Club was announced.
The Nomad Club provides a community for like-minded, right-minded drag racers and enthusiasts, providing a conduit for communication and support. The Club is not a promoter or a motor sport club, however the Club is eager to offer support to promoters and drag racing event organisers. We aim to be a positive and organised force to help enable these events to happen. Our ultimate goal is to assist in nurturing the return of another permanent drag racing facility in the UK, that is fit for purpose as a 21st century venue.
The Club is currently Facebook-based, and has gained over 500 supporters within two weeks.
We believe the opportunity is wide open for an outstanding new -or renewed- drag racing venue. We will provide as much help and support for this when an opportunity arises.
The case has been argued before, Nomad DRC believes there is a strong commercial case for the return of a permanent drag strip. There is a viable future for this, particularly at the sportsman/clubman/ grass-roots level.
Considering some of the hard commercial facts, there is a viable case. Estimates vary, but there are possibly 3,000 vehicles in the UK built for drag racing, and possibly 10,000 street/strip cars and bikes. Currently, there is just one drag strip in the UK, Santa Pod of course, which is crammed to capacity with drag racing and lifestyle events. Clearly there is the need for another drag strip, there is simply not enough capacity to fulfil the desire to participate in drag racing. We believe this also benefits Santa Pod, as it provides a feeder from grass root to Pro classes. The reopening of an improved York Raceway is absolutely ideal: it is close to the M62 corridor, good for access and it serves a large population within travelling distance. Indeed, it's only a hop, skip and a ferry away from mainland Europe.
Furthermore, York has been an established venue, without noise issues. We understand that the landowner has categorically stated that provision for the drag strip has been stipluated to those using the facility. The supporters of York Raceway have previously demonstrated their huge commitment to making this work and proving this can happen. Clearly, we understand there are complexities to achieving this. and Nomad Drag Racing Club shall play its part in providing as much support and enthusiasm as we can to the interested parties in achieving this outcome, and assuring our loyalty to the cause.
We are living the dream and campaigning the cause, join us on Facebook, search out Nomad Drag Racing Club, which lists drag racing events and some shows we hope to be attending as a Club, so please drop by and say Hi.
Racer update: SFI recertification periods.
22nd March: Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall has been in touch with a correction to published SFI certification periods:
The current UK rule book, as distributed on SPRC member lanyards, contains an inaccuracy on several SFI recertification periods. The correct periods are as follow:
7.1 Lower engine containment device: rule book reads 1 year, should read 5 years
14.2 Methanol supercharger restraints: rule book reads 2 years, should read 4 years
14.21 Screw type supercharger restraints: rule book reads 2 years, should read 4 years
27.1 Window nets: rule book reads 2 years, should read 4 years
61.1 Turbochargers: rule book reads 1 year, should read 2 years
Details as posted on the Eurodragster.com News update of 27th March 2018 are correct, and the UK rule book on the SPRC web site will be corrected very shortly.
Festival of Power entry update.
22nd March: Many thanks also to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 2 of the official entry list for the Festival of Power, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 19th-21st April and which is the first round of the UK National Drag Racing, ACU UK Drag Bike and some Club Championships. 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.
Entry closes on Friday of next week (29th March) after which entry, if accepted, may be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can download the official entry forms via the Information link on the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
If you have any queries about Festival of Power entry then please get in touch with Ian at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625).
As well as returning sponsors Lucas Oil Products, Modurstang, Hutchinson & Dibley and Topspeed Automotive, welcome to new class sponsors Secret Worx, Phoenix Personnel, Jon Morton, Bloodwise/Another Small f, Taylor's Trophy and Accelerate for a Cause and a Cure. We will have more about the class sponsors shortly. This entry list update also heralds the return of Susanne Callin to Top Fuel Dragster, as announced by Susanne's partner and Santa Pod Raceway CEO Keith Bartlett at the SPRC Dinner Dance. With Maja Udtian also scheduled to run in the class at Easter, Liam Jones finds himself outnumbered two to one.
Swift snippets.
22nd March: Although the birthday of Derek Flynn of Eurodragster.com sponsor Gold RV is a couple of weeks off, he has taken advantage of Facebook's Birthday Fundraiser feature to start to raise funds for Bloodwise. Two targets have already come and gone and so Derek has stretched the envelope with a target of £500. If you would like to donate to Bloodwise then you can do so at www.facebook.com/donate/1133215770194384.
Michael Dowdy, going into his forty-fifth year at Santa Pod, asked us to say a big Happy Birthday for today (Friday) to his son, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster racer Matthew Dowdy. Our pleasure, have a great day Matthew. Michael also asked us to thank Mark Exley of sponsor Gravitas HR who has renewed his support for this year. "Full details of what Gravitas HR offer can be found at www.gravitashr.co.uk", says Michael. "Alternatively just have a chat to Mark at any race meeting. Finally a belated Thank You to the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame for the invitation to their Gala last year. If you are thinking of going this year, just go, you won't regret it!"
Festival of Power entry update.
21st March: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 1 of the official entry list for the Festival of Power, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 19th-21st April and which is the first round of the UK National Drag Racing, ACU UK Drag Bike and some Club Championships. 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.
Entry closes on Friday of next week (29th March) after which entry, if accepted, may be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can download the official entry forms via the Information link on the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
If you have any queries about Festival of Power entry then please get in touch with Ian at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625).
Swift snippets.
21st March: Our first Webster Race Engineering/Nimbus Motorsport webcasts of the year will be from the VHRA Vintage Nationals (Saturday 13th April) and GTi Spring Festival (Sunday 14th April) at Santa Pod Raceway. These will be followed by the pre-Festival of Power Pro Peak Performance Day on Thursday 18th April. Stay tuned for more dates.
Swift snippets.
19th March: We will post the first version of the official entry list shortly but a reminder that Friday of next week, 29th March, is the official closing date for entry to the Festival of Power which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 19th-21st April. You can download the official entry form via the Information link on the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
Caitlin and Emmy Wilson asked us to say a big Happy Birthday with love to their dad Duncan Wilson (below left). "Without Dad no racing would be possible for either Em or I", says Caitlin. "We are so grateful for everything he does for us". Have a great day Duncan.
To prove that you can't keep a good idea down, our good friend Bob Roberts got in touch with video of a No Prep race (above right) at Thruxton in 1980. The race took place over 100 yards and featured one of the widest drag strips we have seen. "The Race Director and Chief Starter became a well-known chassis builder (and flight specialist)", says Bob.
If you fancy working on a blown-alcohol altered then the Thunder God team are seeking a crew member. You can find out whether you've got what it takes via the Drivers/Crew Required link on our Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored Swap Meet.
A word for our sponsors.
19th March: Eurodragster.com sponsors please note that this year's sponsorship renewals have been sent out and are now due. A big Thank You to those who have already paid. If your renewal has not arrived and it is not in your Spam folder then please get in touch with Tog at tog@eurodragster.com.
If you are interested in sponsoring Eurodragster.com then please get in touch with Tog at the same address.
Swift snippets.
17th March: Andy Carter's son Albert Carter has been at Gainesville this weekend working in Terry Haddock's Fuel pit, prior to getting in a car himself. "On Tuesday and Wednesday Albert will be at Frank Hawley's school licencing in a Super Comp Dragster", says Andy. "Albert started in Karts aged five and then moved to cars aged twelve. He won the Junior Production Championship in 2017 and 2018 as well as winning the World of Dirt in 2018. Albert would like to say thanks to all of his sponsors and to everyone who has helped him get to this stage in his motorsport career."
The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (above right) 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 editor@eurodragster.com.
Many thanks to our good buddy Kai Plathan for alerting us to a couple of great videos from Räyskälä in Finland back in 1985. Similarly to Kai's last submission this is a runway race featuring some well-known vehicles and names and if you liked your Pro Comp then the first of the two videos is definitely for you.
No news update yesterday so we were unable to say a big Happy Birthday to our good friend John Hackney. Hope you had a great day Hackers.
Support your local drag strip.
17th March: Paul Marston says that with drag racing under attack and threatened in the same way as has happened to Grasstrack, Short Oval, Sprinting and other disciplines of motorsport you can play your part to fight back by supporting the No Prep Series at its various venues this season:
These are strong words indeed, words that up until 2017 I never thought I would be saying, but nevertheless that is my opinion and is exactly what we are facing. It is the grassroots drag racer who is being driven out. Why threatened? Because if you kill the roots the tree falls down, it's not rocket science. With drag racing the loss of York Raceway, Shakespeare County Raceway and North Weald Airfield all happened at once.
The problem is replacing these venues. Believe you me it has not been easy for all of us at No Prep Outlaw Drag Racing. All the venues at which we are appearing are temporary facilities: it's good to cover the country with events just about everywhere. We sincerely thank the promoters who have given us a chance to race with them, namely Mark at the Rodfathers and the legend that is Trevor Duckworth and his Straightliners organisation.
For 2019 we need something from all the grass-roots racers out there, each and every one of you. We need your support. We need competitors to race with us. I am not overstating the importance of this. If the grass-roots drag racer does not support the 2019 series in significant numbers there will be less of a chance of there being a 2020 series. This, like Rockingham Dragstrip, is a series run by racers for racers for the love of the sport, nothing more nothing less. Why? Because if we don't all play our part in supporting the sport then drag racing dies off. The simple truth is that all your race cars will be worthless, just think about that for a while and let it sink in.
Pel Norman said to me earlier this week why so many of the northern lads raced in No Prep at Rockingham Dragstrip, and some mighty tough competition they are too, because they know what it's like: they lost their track two years ago. Without a track to race on your car has no value. Unless you want to put it back on the road, which means a lot of expense and with all the speed cameras and 70 mph speed limit, what use is that when your car is built to do 170 mph?
So my message here is clear: support your grass-roots drag race series if you want drag racing in this country to survive. Don't sit on the fence and wait and see who turns up for the first season, if you do that there might not be a second season! What we have here is a unique opportunity to put drag racing back on the map. To show that we will not go quietly, that this is our sport and this is what we enjoy to do and that we are going to carry on doing it as long as there are drag strips to run on.
Everyone can help out! If you would like some flyers and posters to distribute and spread the word, please contact us via the Facebook page, E-Mail me at pmdragracing@gmail.com or call me on 07831 650230. All we need is your name and address. If you are a member of a race team, call up the car owner and ask him if he will come and race with us. We need supporting, this series is for you guys.
The season kicks off on Saturday 13th April at East Kirkby Dragstrip with True Street and Pro Street. There are some spots left so stand up and be part of the future which starts this year, and enter. The second event is on Saturday 27th April at Dakota Dragstrip in Somerset, with True Street and Pro Street.
The series has ten dates throughout the year. This is your sport if you want it to survive it needs your support, over to you people. Entry forms are available at tinyurl.com/2019noprep or contact us as above.
Fast Fil joins Puma.
17th March: Puma Engineering Ltd, manufacturer of the world's most powerful motorcycle engines, has announced that Athens, Greece based businessman Filippos Papafilippou has joined Ian King as co-owner and Director of the drag race motorcycle engine specialists.
Papafilippou's business interests include Drag Store in Athens, a specialist in carbon fibre composite design and manufacture alongside its tuning and race preparation services. Papafilippou recently joined the multiple FIM European Championship winning and world record-holding team King Racing after acquiring the Gulf Oil machine campaigned by King and built in his Puma Engineering workshops, winning his own and first European title in his inaugural year riding a supercharged nitromethane Top Fuel motorcycle.
Ian King said "I'm very happy to welcome Fil to join me in our small but world-renowned business. He brings a wealth of racing experience on both two- and four-wheel drag racing, and the complementary expertise within Drag Store will help develop our product portfolio for the future. Fil has become a good friend over the last few years and since he joined my race team has proved to be a competent and able development rider, well equipped to feedback improvement proposals in our race efforts. As a one man band I welcomed the opportunity to share some of the burden I have carried alone since Gerard Willemse left almost seven years ago, and am excited at what Fil can bring to Puma Engineering."
Puma Engineering was founded in 1972 by Pete Davies. Pete, an apprenticed engineer and jig borer, had developed an interest in motorcycles from his father who bought, restored and sold motorcycles at Rugby market. Whilst racing as a passenger on a Triumph twin powered grass track sidecar outfit Pete started to improve and remanufacture parts for the fragile engines, and after being made redundant in 1972 started up the company making parts for other sidecar racing teams. After a chance encounter with drag racer Ray Feltell at a show in 1974 Pete commenced the manufacture of parts for drag racing applications. The first nitro engine was built for John Clift, with later commissions from John for use in his famous Chain Reaction Top Fuel Triumph parallel twin.
Puma are now manufacturers of the most powerful motorcycle engines in the world, and power the quickest and fastest accelerating motorcycles across the globe. They offer the complete range of parts to construct all combinations of nitromethane fuelled drag bikes; supercharged and normally aspirated, single cylinder through parallel and V-twin combinations to inline four cylinder.
Commissions from customers across the globe already include state of the art Puma CrMo chassis, billet V-twin engines and a number of four-cylinder engine combinations through to complete turn-key machines. Recent developments have included Mark 2 billet Puma 3V cylinder heads, gear driven camshaft engines, innovative barrel valves developed specifically for Top Fuel Bike applications, and state-of-the-art Carbon Fibre injector hat and precision screw supercharger combinations.
As well as offering its heavy duty Pro1 cases as replacements for the Suzuki GS/GSX engines, Puma has been developing engines and turnkey concepts for the so called New Age Funny Bikes to overcome the engine and gearbox problems associated with running a mid six-second Funny Bike using OEM design engine cases. Powered by inline four engines utilising normally-aspirated nitromethane injected, supercharged/turbocharged petrol or alcohol and nitrous oxide-injected combinations on a pseudo Top Fuel Bike transmission layout, these combinations permit engine setups in excess of 1000 HP to be utilised if desired that could not be reliably achieved with the traditional Funny Bike combinations. Available for all OEM motorcycle cylinder head stud spacings, crankshafts up to 95 mm stroke are offered resulting in capacities of up to 2500cc.
To date, well over one hundred Puma engines have been built for Top Fuel and Funny Bike applications. Puma-powered motorcycles have broken numerous US, European, Australian and world records over the years, and have propelled many riders to Championship titles, many more than any other engine in Top Fuel Bike history. With power outputs exceeding 1500 HP/PS and under 1600 cc, Puma-powered motorcycles are used in the current US, European and British Championship-winning bikes, and hold the accolade of propelling multi US Champion Larry McBride to the fastest (258.27 mph/415.64 kmh) and quickest (5.611 secondss) runs in history on a mechanically-driven motorcycle on a quarter mile from a standing start.
A fund for Jean.
15th March: Further to his request for MS Trust donations rather than flowers at Jean Lane's funeral, Peter Lane tells us that
a Justgiving page has been set up in Jean's memory to benefit the MS Trust.
If you would like to make a donation to the MS Trust in memory of Jean then you can do so at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/peter-stuart5.
Webster renews Doorslammers backing.
15th March: Santa Pod Raceway are pleased to announce that Webster Race Engineering, situated next to the track, have renewed their class sponsorship for the eagerly-anticipated Doorslammers event on 17th-19th May.
Jon Webster is a name well known at Santa Pod having built and/or driven just about every conceiable type of race car and his reputation precedes him. Webster Race Engineering are renewing their association with the 4 Cylinder class to put their engineering services in front of competitors and spectators alike.
Jon said "It's a particular discipline in which we are interested with several customers who could make an impact in the class. I was involved with the design and build of Wayne Saunders' world record-setting Ford Focus back in 1999 and the enthusiasm for the potential of the possible combinations out there has stayed with me. The Doorslammers is an excellent platform for these cars. Heads-up competition is the r eal place for them to battle it out. We are currently involved with vehicles that may appear at the event and we offer extensive workshop services and support with respect to race car construction and associated services and support."
Gainesful employment.14th March: Santa Pod Raceway Track Announcer Colin Theobald has been in touch with the story behind yesterday's spy picture of a Gatornationals staff pass. Announcer Colin is pleased to announce that he is announcing:
Those of you who will be following the NHRA 50th Gatornationals either as part of the very sizeable British contingent at the event, along with many more following via the internet, will probably recognise the voice of one of the announcers in the Tower as I am joining Alan Reinhart and Joe Castello for the duration of the event and will be helping out when required.
I honestly cannot believe I'm here as part of the show. I was fortunate enough to do some colour commentary during the Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex back in 2017 and to be able to join the team from day one is a massive honour. I'll be making sure everyone here knows about Santa Pod and European drag racing. Later on I'll be catching up with Brian Lohnes, who has become a great friend. So you never know what might happen there!
Williams' last US date.
14th March: Eurodragster.com sponsor Nic Williams and the rest of the OCS Group team will be flying the flag for the UK and Santa Pod Raceway as the only competitor from England at this weekend's NHRA 50th anniversary Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.
This is the last US event for the WBR AA/SA Camaro as it will be shipped back to Northamptonshire after the race. "We know that there are so many visitors from Europe", says Nic. "Please come and say hi to us as well as to Tony Morris who is pitted next door, and of course to the Swedish Stock racers who are right opposite."
You will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress on the Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com.
First Doorslammers sponsor declares.
13th March: Santa Pod Raceway are delighted to announce Eibach Springs as the sponsor of the FWD class at the Doorslammers in May.
It's a name with which many Santa Pod followers will be familiar as Eibach have partnered with Santa Pod on a number projects over the years. Commercial Manager Caroline Holden said "We're delighted to have Eibach partner with us again and the Doorslammers event is a perfect fit for their world class products. The FWD class for this event already boasts eleven entries so the competition will be fierce!"
Eibach's Head of Marketing told us "We're excited to be part of the community and help educate drivers about the importance of their suspension systems. You could have all the power in the world, but if you can't get it to the ground, it's worthless! With a large range of ERS Coilover springs, Drag-Launch Kits and Alignment products, Eibach can help turn that tyre spin to traction."
Visit www.eibach.com to find out more about the full Eibach range.
Swift snippets.
13th March: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (right) 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 editor@eurodragster.com.Fuelin' Around signings at the Gators.
13th March: Our good friend Jim Kelly will be signing copies of his latest book Fuelin' Around at the Drag Racing Association of Women booth on the Midway at the this weekend's NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.
"Gainesville was always the first big drag race on the east coast and everyone I know would pile into their cars and drive south to escape the cold", says Jim. "It was our
spring break but we didn't head for the beaches, we headed for the Gators!
"Fuelin' Around is a behind the scenes look at not just my adventures in the motorsports industry, the highs and the lows, but also tells the story of how a group of us helped a David named VP Racing Fuels to take on the Goliaths of the industry."
NHRA Funny Car World Champion Bruce Larson wrote "This book is great!". NASCAR Modified Driver Mike Christopher's wife jokingly gave Jim a hard time, saying "He stayed up all night reading it!". Other reviews include "A page-turner you're going to attempt to read in one shot" from John DiBartolomeo of Drag Racing Edge magazine, and "Fascinating and enjoyable stories, I laughed out loud more than once" from Eurodragster.com's very own News Editor.
"Jim very graciously offered to give DRAW the profits off each book they sell on the midway throughout the season as a donation" said Steve Lesuer, DRAW Board Member and one of Jim's business competitors mentioned in the book. "I'll be there with JK on the midway and we're looking forward to sharing some of our war stories."
DRAW is a non-profit organisation which provides financial and emotional support to qualified individuals involved in drag racing accidents at a track. From 1985 through 2017, DRAW provided a total of $4,943,250 in financial assistance to 930 racing families. In 2018, DRAW aided twenty three racers and their families with $130,789.66.
In addition to the DRAW Booth at NHRA National Events, Fuelin' Around is also available on Amazon. For more information visit jkkelly.com, .drawfasthelp.org, or at nhra.com.
You can read our review of Fuelin' Around on our news update of 7th January.
Jean Lane's funeral.
12th March: Thanks to Peter Lane for letting us know that Jean Lane's funeral will take place at 10:00 next Tuesday (19th) at the South Oxfordshire Crematorium and Memorial Park, Garford, Abingdon OX13 5PA (map). All are welcome. The venue for drinks afterwards will be advised shortly.
Peter requests no flowers please but a collection will be held for the MS Trust on Tuesday.
Enter the Rebel.
11th March: Hayley Fyfe of the UK's Wrathchild Wild Bunch team has been in touch to claim the 20th February spy picture for Rob and Pete Brown and herself:
The clue was dropped back in mid-February when these pair of rebels turned thirty!
I know that we are all looking forward to the season to begin. However, I'm particularly excited for this year as Rob and Pete will be running Rebel for their first time in MSA. I know they wouldn't mind me saying that this year it's going be a learning curve as it's a step up from running Wrathchild at the RWYB events.
We would like to thank our amazing family and friends for their help and ongoing support (cheers Marras!) Roll on Easter!
PS Wrathchild hasn't been forgotten!
Swift snippets.
11th March: Carrying on the Wild Bunch theme, we would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Wild Bunch Race Co-ordinator Claire Meaddows. Have a lovely day Claire.
Jean Lane.
10th March: We were very sorry to hear from Peter Lane of the death of his wife Jean this morning (Sunday) at the age of 57. Peter tells us that Jean was diagnosed with breast cancer which spread before it could be operated upon.
Stock/Superstock racer Carla Pittau speaks for all of us: "Jean was a dear friend and a thoroughly fantastic person who never for one minute let her serious illnesses affect her personal relationships, never complained, never wanted anyone's pity or sympathy. I will miss her greatly."
Our deepest sympathies to Peter and to all of Jean's family and friends.
Bartlett hails new FIA contract.
10th March: Trakbak Racing CEO and Santa Pod Raceway owner Keith Bartlett writes that after a long period of discussions and negotiations with the FIA an initial four-year contract has been provisionally secured for the promotion and commercial rights to the FIA European Drag Racing Championships. The agreement will be ratified by the FIA Senate in early April.
"We have formed a new company, Drag Racing Europe, to operate the FIA European Drag Racing Championships", says Keith. "The new company will have a voting seat on the FIA Drag Racing Commission plus, and most importantly in my view, we will have sole responsibility for setting the calendar from 2020. The new company will also have a input into all rules and future rule making. More information will be released in April."
The FIA's press release reads as follows:
Following a meeting yesterday of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Geneva, the governing body of world motor sport has provided provisional approval to the appointment of a new promoter for the FIA European Drag Racing Championship.
Having operated without a recognised promoter for over a decade, the World Motor Sport Council has approved the appointment of Drag Racing Europe as the commercial rights holder for the FIA European Drag Racing Championship from the start of the 2019 season. Following a year of discussions, the two parties have agreed on an initial four-year agreement from 2019 through 2022, which is subject to the approval of the FIA Senate and finalisation of the contract.
"We are delighted to be working with Drag Racing Europe to secure the future of the European Drag Racing Championship and I must commend all the stakeholders involved for uniting behind this common purpose" stated Lars Pettersson, President of the FIA Drag Racing Commission. "Through their role as event organisers, the stakeholders behind Drag Racing Europe have been performing the role of promoter of the European Championship unofficially for many years already and the FIA is confident in their ability to restore the Championship to strength."
Drag Racing Europe AB is a consortium formed from the existing venues in the Championship, namely Santa Pod Raceway, Tierp Arena, Hockenheimring and the Finnish Hot Rod Association, in addition to the current Championship administrator, Speedgroup. Each of the five parties is an equal partner in Drag Racing Europe.
"We are very pleased to have been provisionally appointed as the new promoter for the FIA European Drag Racing Championships" stated DRE Chairman Keith Bartlett. "The new promoter Drag Racing Europe will now be able to seek to further develop the Championship, especially in key commercial areas and hopefully over the coming years be able to bring increased benefits to the racers, teams and track promoters alike."
The FIA European Drag Racing Championship is the pinnacle of the discipline in Europe and the only drag racing Championship around the world which awards an FIA trophy. Competition takes place across four classes Top Fuel Dragster, Top Methanol Dragster and Funny Car, Pro Modified and Pro Stock. For 2019, the Championship will take place over six rounds:
24th-27th May: FIA/FIM Main Event, Santa Pod Raceway, UK
6th-9th June: Tierp Internationals, Tierp Arena, Sweden
5th-7th July: FHRA Nitro Nationals, Kauhava, Finland
16th-18th August: NitrOlympX, Hockenheim, Germany
22nd-25th August: Scandinavian Internationals, Tierp Arena, Sweden
5th-8th September: FIA/FIM European Finals, Santa Pod Raceway, UK
Colin Hudson.
8th March: We were very sorry to hear from Mark Skinner, aka Buddha Taz, that Grandad Taz Colin Hudson passed away on Sunday Night.
"Colin was a great bloke, still racing at 70", says Mark. "RIP Colin."
Our deepest sympathies to Coln's family and friends and to the whole Taz Racing team.
SFI bellhousing recert update.
8th March: SFI Foundation Vice President Jennifer Faye has been in touch with a clarification of recertification requirements for SFI 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3 bellhousings:
The SFI Specifications 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3 for bellhousings state a maximum recertification period, and not an absolute inspection schedule. It says they shall be inspected by the manufacturer for recertification at least every five years for 6.1 or at least two years for 6.2 and 6.3.
However, it can be determined by the certifying manufacturer to inspect more frequently than the maximum period stated in the SFI specifications. For example, a Trick Titanium SFI 6.2 bellhousing must be inspected each year. Inspections are important for the ongoing safety provided by the bellhousings, to check for wear and tear, unapproved modifications that could inhibit the protective capabilities of the parts, etc. Therefore, it is imperative for racers and race teams to check the expiration date directly on the sticker on their bellhousings. That is the overriding control date for recertifications.
The FIA Drag Racing Technical Regulations have also been updated to reflect this.
WBR go large on Gators.
8th March: The UK's Williams Brothers Racing have announced that the team will be contesting Stock Eliminator not only at this weekend's
"Baby Gators" NHRA Divisional event at Gainesville but also at next week's 50th Annual Gatornationals:
We are incredibly proud and honoured to be racing at this prestigious event, especially as we are the only team from the UK to be taking part.
The Camaro is performing superbly and Dan, Nic and Lorne have learnt so much over the course of the adventure. Let's hope that we can bring another Wally back home to the UK to go with the Edelbrock Performer of the Race award with which we were presented at the US Nationals last year.
It has been an incredible nine months of logistics, endless road and air miles travelled, and to finish the tour at the Gators was beyond what we thought was possible. What makes this event so special however is that it's not just the three of them this time. Nic's wife Alix is already there , and on Monday the team will almost be complete as Keith Williams, Guy King and Colin Theobald are flying out to join them for the Gatornationals.
We will of course be spreading the word about Santa Pod and racing in the UK and we know that there is a European invasion of spectators and fellow racers coming to the event so please come and say hi, we'd love to see you there.
Swift snippets.
8th March: The official entry forms for the No Prep Series are now available for download (PDF format) at tinyurl.com/2019noprep. For more about the No Prep Series check out our news item of 7th February or visit the No Prep Drag Racing Facebook page.
Swift snippets.
7th March: This pair of spy pictures arrived at the Eurodragster.com offices accompanied by the words "What could be going on? A USA delivery and a man selling cloth". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at editor@eurodragster.com.
If you are one of the eighteen or so fans left on this side of the Pond not attending this weekend's Good Vibrations March Meet at Bakersfield then a webcast is available for the princely sum of $24.59 for the weekend. Coverage starts today (Thursday) and with a time difference of -8 hours UK and -9 hours European you still have plenty of time to get your order in by clicking here.
We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to our good friend, Honorary Eurodragster.com Staff Member and Anyone's Crew Spencer Tramm. Have a great day Spencer.
SPRC office closed.
6th March: Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall says that the SPRC office will be closed until next Tuesday afternoon (19th):
I will have my mobile phone with me and should anyone require ACU codes I can still sort those out, but only by text to 07436 802907 or to the usual E-Mail address, but not by voice message please as I can't sort that out.
If you have an urgent enquiry then please call, but please take into account that in my location there is a -5 hour difference on UK time.
Belt meter sought for Fuel bike.
6th March: Phil Baimbridge is seeking the help of Eurodragster.com readers with the loan of
a meter to set up the belt tension on his unique three-cylinder Top Fuel Bike:
I have spent a lot of time upgrading the primary drive on the Triple. I've calculated the required belt tension but I have been unable to locate a belt tension meter to set the tensioner/idler diameter. Because of the installation I need a system which can measure the belt vibration frequency from the outside of the belt (there is no access to the side of the belt).
Ideally I would like an optical sensor, but I could use an acoustic sensor if that is all that is available. At £650 for a single use I really don't want to have to buy a meter.
If you can help Phil with a belt tension meter then please drop us a line at tog@eurodragster.com and we will put you in touch.
Maja goes for full Top Fuel season.
6th March: Our good friend Remco Scheelings writes that Maja Udtian will contest her first full season in FIA Top Fuel Dragster with Rune Fjeld Motorsport:
The 21-year-old Norwegian made her Top Fuel competition début at the 2017 FIA/FIM European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway and will now join forces with famous team owner Rune Fjeld to make a full assault on the 2019 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster crown. "I'm so excited to work with Rune and his team", says Maja. "I know I still have to learn a lot, but I'm sure I have the best people around me for the next step in my career."
As one daughter of a drag racing family from Frøya, one of the many islands west of Norway, Maja Udtian almost grew up at the drag strip. After a very successful career in Junior Dragster and Super Comp, she didn't hesitate for a second when she got the opportunity to go for her Top Fuel licence in 2017. At her home track in Gardermoen, Maja immediately impressed with her way of driving and her professional approach. A few weeks later she completed her licencing procedure at Tierp Arena with a stunning 4.11-second pass, at 19 years of age the youngest Norwegian driver to obtain a Top Fuel licence. Two weeks later she made her Top Fuel competition début at the FIA European Finals a Santa Pod Raceway.
With the full support of some major Norwegian companies Maja wanted to contest the FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Championship for a full season and so 2018 was used to find the right seat and to get all the necessary details in place for 2019. With modern social media it was one of the worst-kept secrets, but now it's official that Maja will join forces with Rune Fjeld Motorsport to compete in the 2019 FIA European Top Fuel Championship. "I'm really looking forward to this season, and I'm super excited to work with Rune Fjeld", says Maja. "Right now, as I'm getting partners on board that make it financial possible, it all feels too good to be true. Ever since I was a little girl, driving full season in Top Fuel has been my biggest dream. To be able to do it together with my family and partners who believe in me feels really good. It for sure requires a lot of work on different areas, but I'm so focused on this that nothing else really matters."
The Top Fuel rookie will drive the latest addition to the
Rune Fjeld stable, the McKinney chassis, in 2018 campaigned by Antti Horto.
Maja will have her first outing in the RFM car at April's Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway, a non-Championship
race and the perfect opportunity to get familiar with the car and the team. She will also make some runs at Gardermoen
Raceway during the traditional Drag Challenge in early August.
Maja's main partners during the 2019 season are Salmar, Lerøy, Marine Construction and Frøy. Also making this season possible are Skarsvaag Boats, Nutrimar, Erviks Laks & Ørrett, Frøya Transportsenter, Vindfang, Eidsvaag, Seashell and Åkerblå. "I'm really proud to have so many local companies supporting me, and I'm happy to co-operate with them", says Maja. At every race another main sponsor will be highlighted on the car, thus the RFM Top Fueller will have a different design at almost every race. "Instead of having all the decals the same size for the whole season, we think a partner will get more attention in this way", says Maja. "One name will be in large print and the other companies smaller. By changing the name every race, they will all be in the spotlight during the season."
Jamie Willis will, together with Rune, be the Crew Chief for Maja's RFM Top Fueller. Jamie has worked with Rune Fjeld before,
has a lot of experience in the nitro categories, and was also one of the crew when Maja made her licencing runs. The
other crew members will be Eirik Skjervø, Tom Pawski, Luke Shakeshaft, Ruaridh Hart, Rob Elsom and Thor Larsen.
Almost all of them have experience Top Fuel.
"First of all we are here to have fun and enjoy, but it is no secret that you don't do a full season just for fun", says Maja. "Antti and his team proved last year that the dragster can put down some really fast numbers and be at the top in Europe. Knowing that the car is competitive, I'm doing everything I can to be well prepared. I have a training programme, I'm working out five or six times a week, and I bought myself a Portatree to step up my Reaction Times. With that, and my team focusing on making a fast car, I believe we can fight at the top. I'm also looking forward to teaming up with Liam Jones and his team, and I'm sure we will have a great season in the RFM pit. We're ready to give our all!
"Last but not least I would like to thank my family for supporting me, my uncle Arnt for the job he has done, my partners, Jamie, Rune, Lindsey and the rest of the team."
Maja will be accompanied by her family at the races. The well-known Islanders coach which has travelled so many miles all over Europe in the last few years will travel to the tracks and will also carry the Super Comp dragster of Maja's sister Mari to the races. 17-year old Mari, runner-up in the 2018 Summit Racing EDRS Super Comp Championship, will get the opportunity to compete in Super Comp at the races at which Maja will be racing for the Top Fuel trophy.
Racer update: SFI 3.2A suits.
4th March: Many thanks to Tech Inspector Frans Steilberg for passing us the below bulletin about recertification of SFI 3.2A firesuits:
Click on the above image for a PDF download.
Swift snippets.
4th March: We would like to say a big Happy Birthday and Grattis to our good friend, Stock/Super Stock racer Rick McCann. Have a great day Rick.
Weekend reading.
3rd March: We have recently received a couple of Blog updates. First up is The Netherlands' Lex Joon who writes with the latest on his campaign to run in NHRA Top Fuel Dragster. Paul Marston has had one or two other things to think about in the last year or so but has been in touch to catch right up on the development of his twin-turbo Cortina. You can check out the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Thanks to Mike Collins for sending us the usual preview of his column in the latest issue of Street Machine magazine, plus bonus material exclusively for Eurodragster.com readers. Click on the images above for the PDF downloads.
SFI Tour update.
1st March: Many thanks to Jennifer Faye of the SFI Foundation for sending us a list of items which can be inspected on this year's SFI Tour, which commences on 21st March.
"The only change from last year is that 61.1 turbos are now good for two years (used to be one year)", says Jennifer.
This year's SFI Tour stops are as follow:
Thursday 21st March: The Netherlands Please note new venue
Hotel Ibis Amsterdam Schiphol
Schipholweg 181
Bedhoevedorp 1171PK
Inspections 08:00-12:00
Friday 22nd March: Finland
FHRA HQ
Helsinki-Malmin Lentoasema
Helsinki 00700
Inspections 08:00-12:00
Saturday 23rd March: Sweden
Persåkers Speed Shop
Solbergavagen 28
Åkers Styckebruck
Inspections 12:00-17:00
Monday 25th March: UK
Bankside VIP
Santa Pod Raceway
Airfield Road
Podington
NN29 7XA
Inspections 10:00-16:00
Earlier news
