Carter fit after Mosten. 31st August: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer
Andy Carter and the Lucas Oil / Landmeco / Andersen Racing team
are fit for the fight at next weekend's FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway, says Jens Olaf Hersom:
At this weekend's Mosten Raceday in Jutland, Denmark, Andy was close to the track record at Mosten Dragway when he ran 3.39 seconds
for the eighth mile in an exhibition race against Danish driver Rene Hersland.
Another Danish driver and former European Champion, Kim Reymond, holds the track record at Mosten Dragway at 3.24 seconds.
Andy's sixty foot time was quicker than those set by top drivers in the American NHRA series. Andy, who was very keen to
break Kim's track record, had another run but had to shut off early after spinning the tyres shortly after the start.
But the very fast sixty foot time leaves the team optimistic before the Finals and the meeting with top rivals Lex Joon and Micke Kågered.
Eurodragster.com Swap Meet sponsor Jeff Bull was in driving mode this weekend testing a 565 cubic inch Chevy motor in the
S10 truck that normally has
wife Belinda in the hot seat. Plans are for the truck to enter into the Super Modified class next year. Jeff is liaising with US builder Steve Schmidt on a number of items
including cam designs. Also trying for Super Modified times was Martin Curbishley in the ex Jon Hogarth Corvette, now all blue and looking and sounding good, and
Simon Farmer first-footing in a similarly good-looking Mustang.
You can check out our American Car Imports-sponsored Peak Performance Day photo gallery
by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage
link on the left hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting the FIA European Finals.
Powering around Wellingborough. 31st August: If you've been to Santa Pod Raceway you will probably know about the nearby town of Wellingborough. Unless you're a local, you
might not know about the annual Parade of Power writes Simon Hodder:
The event is rapidly becoming a major fixture on the town's summer calendar, and on Friday evening several thousand people turned up to witness a real spectacle. As
the evening began to darken, more than thirty cars and bikes drove round the town centre streets, which had been closed to all other traffic, for an hour, many
of them performing spectacular smoky burnouts and wheelies.
Through this event Santa Pod put on an extremely successful promotion for the sport of drag racing. Thousands of people who perhaps have never given any
thought to attending a race meeting were given a real taste of what drag racing is all about, which can only be of benefit to both the sport and to Santa
Pod.
James Forrester, Show Manager at Future Publishing, tells us that he is still seeking race cars, particularly Street Eliminator race cars,
to run at Trax, a performance and modified car show at Silverstone next Sunday, 7th September. "Demos will take place on the 0-60
Sprint Test", says James. "It's an un-prepped surface so we won't be breaking any records but anyone who can put on a good show is welcome".
For more information contact James at james.forrester@futurenet.co.uk.
King Racing press release. 30th August: Whilst most of the world was watching the achievements of their national
sporting heroes in China, European drag racing fans had their own Olympics to enjoy, the 2008 NitrOlympX
in Hockenheim, Germany.
The event is a truly unique experience staged at one of the premier motorsports centres in Europe with a
dedicated standalone drag strip built into the stadium complex and a shutdown area that runs for miles
and miles out into the forests of Baden-Wurttemberg. No worries here then about racing over 1320 feet
and with high-spec facilities that one would expect (and Bernie Ecclestone would demand) from a Formula
One track, it is an event eagerly anticipated by many of the teams.
The twenty third running of the event in front of over 50,000 of the usual noisy and enthusiastic German
motorsport enthusiasts saw a group of invited Nitromethane fuelled and 1000 horsepower supercharged Top
Fuel Bikes took on a group of their slightly less powerful but similarly fuelled V-Twin machines in a
Cannonball-style format. Basically every rider was given four runs with their three quickest average ETs
taking into account to determine a class winner in each group to run against each other in the Nitro Bike
Thunder final.
Following their disappointment of the rain-curtailed Norway event the Portable Shade team were keen to
test some new clutch and cam timing settings in an attempt to improve their sixty foot times. With input
from clutch designer Tony Kershaw the team embarked on a remarkably consistent string of runs in qualifying
and the final that saw four runs in the 6.3 second zone (with a best of 6.314) and only one that failed to
meet this mark in the 6.4 second zone. In addition, King found new speed with the set-up, propelling him to
a PB and track record 228.39 mph in qualifying.
The Nitro Bike Thunder Challenge race is billed as the Best in Europe and it was thus fitting that the final
round saw reigning UEM champions Ian King and Lorenz Stäuble represent their classes in the head-to-head
decider. The Portable Shade Puma Yamaha prevailed, charging around Stauble in the trophy run-off, getting to
the line first with a 6.366/220.59 despite a momentary lapse of concentration that gave Stäuble a jump on King
at the lights.
The Portable Shade Top Fuel Bike will compete at the next events in 2008:
29th-30th August, Mosten Raceday, Denmark
4th-7th September, Santa Pod, England
The team rely on only the best parts and services from leading companies in their chosen markets:
"Vincent is doing the last wiring and I am finishing the wheelie bar and some other small bits and pieces. During the last four weeks we have trained Roel
(Koedam, rider - Ed) to look very aggressive, and we have tattooed "I am a Winner" on his forehead. So Vince and I are convinced that he
will do the job properly. Just to put our fellow SuperTwin riders at easy, we won't be going for the 2008 Championship any more."
In at the deep end! 29th August: German Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com News sponsor
Marco Maurischat unveiled his
eagerly-awaited blown-alcohol 'Vette at the NitrolympX at Hockenheim. Marco and the team went
straight in at the deep end with the new car, which wasn't the original idea.
"Our plan this year was to go to some smaller races before attending an FIA round", says Marco. "As everybody knows, thinking
is easier than doing and the car was not ready before Hockenheim. Somebody told us it seems stupid to go to one of the big races first,
but there was no option and what could be better than a new German race car débuting at Hockenheim?
"For the last qualifying round we were hoping to go quicker. At the end of the burnout the car made a right turn but it was no problem to get it under
control. After backing up from the burnout I felt that I could not hold the clutch much longer - my first thought was "Man, go to the gym for some left
leg training!". So when I staged I had to go before the Tree was activated because I could not hold the pedal down any longer.
That we wouldn't qualify for this event was something we knew before the event and this was not our goal for the weekend. Like Marc told me, "It
took you over two years to build it, don't crash it in two minutes!".
"We feel happy with this first weekend of racing with the new car and we are looking forward to coming to the Finals at Santa Pod. I have to say a big
Thank You for the warm welcome from all the Pro Mod teams! Thanks to Andy Robinson for the help he gave us with questions some of which I think
were stupid (he had much bigger problems); Marc Meihuizen and his team - Marc, hopefully you will wear our team shirt when you win the Finals!
Darren of Power Race Graphics for the great paint scheme and team logo, and last but not least my crew who showed up every week in the race
shop to build this car with me, and most important my wife Nadine for letting me do what I love!"
Sleep is for wimps, anyway. 29th August: UK Comp Bike racer Bob Brooks and the Yellow Metal Racing team are very pleased with the début
of their new bike at the Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway.
"Everything seems to be working well", says Bob. "It just needs minor mods and repairs for the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend. In fact, this is the
first time since around 1995 that I've taken a bike home with the engine and gearbox still intact!
"Finally, thanks to my brother Stig, you're a star."
The Eagles perch at Hockenheim. 29th August: For the Top Fuel contingent of Finland's Eagle
Racing team, it was a great experience to have an FIA Championship round at Hockenheim, says Harri Horto (kindly translated by Heike Schroeder - Ed):
This year we participated for the first time with our own drivers in their own cars. That meant that the whole gang was on-site.
We decided to rent one of the boxes in the pit lane, also used for Formula 1 and other circuit racing, which made professional working much easier.
Spacious and clean, with water taps and toilets (very useful to have in your own pit).
On Friday the weather forecast seemed to come true, and the rain on the roof of the truck told us that there was no need to wake up early.
The weather however improved in the afternoon, and so it was also time to get the Top Fuellers running.
Risto Poutiainen's car was new to him so he could only drive a half track, but everything worked how it should
and Risto's car was prepared for the following day's qualifying. Janne Ahonen's first qualifying round was disastrous.
The motor came apart and loose parts also destroyed the tyre. The dragster stopped abruptly after the finish line
and drifted out of its lane towards its opponent. An in-depth inspection revealed the sad fact that the chassis was broken and could not be fixed on-site,
and that curtailed Janne's chances of driving. Very frustrating, but his safety came first.
Bad to the Bone's dragster was prepared again very quickly, but it took too long.
We were only a few minutes short, but the dragster was not ready in time.
Sweden's Micke Kågered earned a bye run and for us the Hockenheim race was over.
The Hockenheimring offers great conditions for drag racing and we hope that they will continue
to be a part of the FIA Championship calendar.
Keep your foot down... 29th August: Sweden's Tricky Thörnäs Dragracing Team made their first outing
with Peter Thörnäs' 1963 Corvette at Gardermoen at the weekend. Our good buddy Patrik Jacobsson
got in touch to let us know how well things went with the twin-turbo machine:
There were several six-second cars at the test session, which was the last chance in Scandinavia for testing.
We hadn't been out on the track for eight years and we also had some new team members so we were all nervous.
Thanks to all the teams who gave us practical advice, and a big Thank You to Annette Ravnberg from the Press Office who drove in to the
village and purchased an electrical cable we needed.
Rough Diamond returns. 29th August: If you were tuned in to Simon's pit notes from the weekend's Open Sport Nationals
you will have read in the notes from Tony Morris and John Everitt that Dave Gibbons' Rough Diamond
has been located and is to be rebuilt. Dave Gibbons got in touch to tell us some more:
The car which Tony Morris raced in Germany was indeed the car I campaigned as Rough Diamond. It was originally commissioned by John
Everitt and conceived by Norm Wheeldon, but neither John or Norm completed the car, which would have become Hang 'Em High, and
John never raced it.
Some readers may know that my wife Alli and I have had links with Paul Marston Racing for eight years, both having driven for Paul at the Brighton
Speed Trials and at Shakespeare and Santa Pod Raceways. Coincidentally, four years ago I drove the Alien altered now campaigned by John
Everitt. I am pleased to say that this venture in returning to drag racing enjoys the support of Paul Marston Racing.
I would like to emphasise that this is not a project for winning Championships, but purely an exercise in having fun and preserving a much loved
race car. I would like to extend thanks to Dick, Maurice, Tony, Paul, Andrea Kloss, and of course my wife Alli. And while Alli and I intend to return to sprint
racing I may yet have a further drag racing surprise up his sleeve.
Finally, if anyone has any good close up photos of the Rough Diamond T I would very much like to see them for reference. Like
nostalgia, my memory isn't what it used to be.
Swift snippets. 29th August: Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall has been in touch to
remind racers that next Friday, 5th September, is the closing date for entry to the UK National Finals
which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 26th-27th September. You can download the entry form from the
Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
UK Pro ET racer Liz Malcolm says that she and husband Iain had a perfect weekend at the Open Sport Nationals.
"The dragster was running great, giving us #1 qualifying position, only to go out in round one after a battle of the breakouts against John Atkinson", says Liz.
"Then to be awarded Best Engineered Car was absolutely brilliant, after all the work Iain has put into the dragster over the years, what a proud moment it was.
We would like to thank everyone at Shakespeare County Raceway for the award and Drag Race Engineering for sponsoring it."
Blockhead! 29th August: UK Supertwin racer Ian
Turburville says that he had a nightmare weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway. "The track was difficult, crashes, lots of oil downs, and
lots of down time", says Turbo.
"Strangely enough Steve Woollatt ran a new (unofficial) record there, 228 mph, despite having tyre shake, a broken belt and a broken throttle cable!
Everyone seemed to struggle. Steve Carey only managed a ten-second best as his bike was all over the track, for no apparent reason. Jon Webster crashed
Tim Blakemore's Kawasaki. John Wright rolled the Chaos Fuel Altered quite spectacularly, and the dodgems in the pits got louder as the weekend went on
leading to sleepless nights.
"My bike also threw me violently to the left every time no matter what I did, so I think that slick has gone bad, although it only has a dozen passes on it. We
tried everything else. I softened the clutch to get us down the track and qualify but that just melted the drive belt! Then the motor suddenly dropped a lot of RPMs
and sounded dangerously fat at one point which we traced to a bad battery. It showed 12.6v but when you put it on load it went to 9v, so we swapped that out.
It still didn't sound good though and I was not happy, it was missing and banging, very nasty! I spent the night going through everything, re-set everything back
to square one, but it didn't help.
"Then, in desperation, I drained all the fuel out and checked it. It was 99%! I cut it back to 98% and double checked with a
sample I made up by volume. The bike instantly went back to normal and sounded great! It nearly jumped off the stand when I cracked the throttle, fantastic.
All that rough running though had shaken the motor about and, unknowingly, the base nuts on one cylinder came loose. They have never come loose before.
I qualified third which was perfect as it gave me Rene van den Berg in round one and he was my best chance to get thru. I lined up very carefully, the bike was
sounding great, hit the fuel switch and it sounded even better. I whacked the throttle and hung off to the right but to no avail, it went hard left again and took
out all the timing blocks. When I stopped I found the rear cylinder lifted but no damage as I had got off the throttle very quickly.
"I would like to say a big thank you to Dave Bartz for jumping in as Crew Chief for the weekend at no notice whatsoever, I couldn't have wished for better help!
I would also like to again wish crew member Ingrid and fellow 'wobbly' Steve Carey a vey happy birthday for that Saturday. We all had a thouroughly enjoyable
meal at the New Inn to celebrate.
"I am OK, the bike is OK and I will put new slick, cylinders, rods and pistons on for the finals and do my best.The new fuel and clutch system is working great
so I hope I can qualify against Europe's best. Charley Larking has pulled out so that leaves eleven in Supertwin but it will still be a very hard race as I have yet
to run a six.
"I do have a total of seven timing blocks notched up so far this year, which clearly beats Scarey's measly three! I do apologise to the APIRA Tech Crew and
would ask them to re-consider their proposal to replace them with concrete breeze-blocks when we run! Team Turbo Ville would like to congratulate Rene van
den Berg on his well deserved first win in Top Fuel bike! That was one very happy Dutchman that left in his classic American school bus on Monday.
Ceratech back Flynn. 29th August: Hot on the heels of announcing Lucas Oils as associate sponsors of the Gold RV A/Fueller,
Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor and Blogger Derek Flynn is
very pleased to welcome Computer Data Input Specialist Ceratech on board as a sponsor.
"We will be proudly displaying Ceratech's Accuratus brand on the Gold RV A/Fuel dragster", says Derek. "Like us Ceratech are based in Alton and
we are looking forward to entertaining them and their guests at the European Finals. They have never attended a drag race before and we are sure
that they will have a weekend to remember as our VIP guests. Geoffrey Hobbs, Managing Director of Ceratech, has always shown a keen interest in
our cars and what we have been up to and has attended our workshops on several occasions. Even though Ceratech is about a half a mile away from us,
Geoffrey says that he has heard some of our workshop fire-ups!"
To have the foresight to say "Yes" and the honesty to say "No"
"Gold RV Racing are very pleased they said yes to us and drag racing", adds Derek. "Please check out their web site
at www.ceratech.co.uk: if you are into gaming and gadgets or in
the retail or industrial industries you might find just the product you were looking for!"
Eight pipes beat forty candles. 29th August: Rachel Sturman tells us that she got the birthday present of a lifetime from
her partner, UK Pro ET racer Marius Blackburn, when she reached a special age:
I wasn't too chuffed turning forty, feeling old and all that, but when I have an experience that makes me feel like a
rebel teenager again - not that I ever was of course! - that makes it all worthwhile. Presented to me by my nearest
and dearest was a driving experience in Grumpy's Dodge with Paul Marston's Drag Race Driving School.
I had to read the document several times before it actually sunk in but the grin factor had already begun. I crew
for our team and have sat in our car to warm up etc, got greasy, cleaned wheels and cooked for the crew, but now
I was gonna be in the hot seat! Wow!
I would like to thank my darling Marius for the gift of a lifetime, Paul Marston's team for all the re-arranging and
finally completing the day, and Mick Howling for expert instruction and encouragement. Mick your words "Get
angry with it" will stick with me forever! The thing that will stick with the Pro ET 62 team is that the bloody cook
wants a car of her own now! So hear we are sourcing parts to build me a new toy - watch this space, anyone
want to sponsor me? Marius you should have known better, you know what I am like with my motorbikes! I love
you dearly darling. Thank you so, so much for everything we have.
What's on this weekend. 29th August: At Pite Dragway in Sweden, the Autumn Championships will be taking place on Saturday and Sunday.
Organised by SHRA Luleå, the race is the TSDS North Final and features Top Doorslammer
and Sportsman classes.
At Vansbro the Marie Memorial Race will also take place on Saturday and Sunday.
Named in memory of Marie Samuelsson Minnesfond, the secretary of the SHRA who was murdered, the race is supported by the Fund set up by
Pastor Robert Van Aarem and with approval of the local Dalarna County Administration. The race includes Top Doorslammer, and Patrik Pers
will be making demonstration runs in his Nitro Funny Car. Racing will be from 10:00 to 18:00 with an 'after race' party on Saturday including Led
Boots (ZZ Top tribute band). Eliminations take place from 12:30 pm on Sunday.
At Mosten in Denmark one of the great biker events, Mosten MC's Mosten
Race Day is already underway. As well as Supertwin, Top Fuel Bike and a large variety of off-track entertainments there are appearances by Top Doorslammer
and Andy Carter has told us he will be making test passes in the Lucas Oil / Landmeco / Andersen Racing Top Fueller at this event.
The Parade of Power takes place in Wellingborough Town Centre this evening. The Parade is literally that
with, we understand, up to fifty race vehicles making the circuit of Wellingborough Town Centre before a
static display in the Market Square. That's a lot of racers to forgive for doing laps but it's in
a good cause: to promote next weekend's FIA European Finals.
This weekend's Peak Performance Day and VW Action / Run What You Brung at Santa Pod Raceway are the penultimate chance for racers to test before next
week's FIA European Finals. Some places are still available on the gate for tomorrow's Peak Performance Day, and Sunday's VW Action / Run What You Brung is
of course open to all, with DVLC licence required in both cases. You can find out more at
www.rwyb.com.
Eurodragster.com will be posting Coverage Lite from Santa Pod Raceway
this weekend. End-day photo galleries will be posted in association with American Car Imports,
and the Webster
Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam will be on-line
all weekend and will be scheduled to post a picture every sixty seconds. We will post a direct Home Page link
to our coverage as soon as it commenceds, but in the meantime you can view the European Finals Week event coverage
index by clicking here or by
clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting
the FIA European Finals.
Paula has also forwarded us the final version of the official entry list for the FIA European Finals
which takes account of some late withdrawals and additions. You can check out the FIA European Finals entry
list by clicking here or by
clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting
the FIA European Finals.
Many thanks to Jerry Cookson for letting us know that the following Shakespeare County Raceway track
records were set at the Open Sport Nationals:
Top Fuel Bike: 228.74 mph, Steve Woollatt
Competition Bike: 185.87 mph, Ivan Birch
Super Street Bike: 198.70 mph, Steve Venables
Outlaw Flat Four: 9.795 seconds, Richie Webb
You can help... 28th August: Our good friend Par Willen aka PiPPi has been in touch to
let Eurodragster.com readers know of something practical they can do to help the exposure of the sport
in Sweden:
The Swedish motorsports newspaper Svensk Motorsport is running a poll of which driver / rider / sport
people want to read about. The single drag racer in the poll is European drag biker Rikard
Gustavsson. Rikard was the 2006 European Top Fuel Bike Champion and is the points leader going into
the FIA European Finals.
Please help push drag racing to the front. The poll is in Swedish but if you want to cast a vote then:
2. Look for Rikard Gustavsson in the list on the right of the page, and mark the button next to Rikard's name;
3. Scroll down and click the button Rösta to cast your vote.
The poll ends on 31st August, just three days away. The Editor-in-Chief of the tabloid has put up a straightforward
challenge to see what us drag racers and fans can pull, so please cast a vote to show that we're up to the task of
supporting the sport of drag racing.
Ouch! 27th August: UK Fuel Altered pilot John Wright has been in touch to thank everyone
who helped after what he describes as his Olympic gold in the Drag Racing Gymnastics category in the Chaos
Fuel Altered at Shakespeare County Raceway on Monday.
"When Lawrie (Gatehouse, car owner - Ed) reached the car I said "The good news is that we cured the tyre shake...sorry
about the bad news". Apologies all round for the extra workload, delayed racing and the bringing-on of any unknown medical
conditions.
"Special thanks to the crew Sean, Tony, Danny, H and Kevin, and to Lawrie and Judith for being more than understanding.
Super special thanks and big hugs to Les for keeping it all together. We were overwhelmed by the crowd offering their photographic
and video records of the run and their good wishes were also much appreciated by us and the whole crew."
Beck achieves 7.1 aim. 27th August: Having invested heavily in two brand new motors over the winter, multiple ACU UK
Pro Stock Bike Champion Dave Beck headed into the
Open Sport National at Shakespeare County Raceway this past weekend seeking both the event win and a record-setting
7.1-second performance. With new Rick Ward motors, new chassis parts and a host of trick kit including
Racepak o2 monitoring on each cylinder, Dave and his crew of Ric Naylor and Tom Lynskey were primed to go for the record.
Two days of qualifying allowed for data gathering and fine tuning, together with the number one qualifying spot with a 7.38 at 183
mph. The track improved all weekend due to the hard work of the SCR track team, and with good weather for the three-round
elimination on Monday, confidence was high. In the quarter finals Dave took the win and the first half of a new ACU ET record
with a 7.199 run at 183 mph. In his semi-final bye run, the record was clinched with a 7.26 at 182 mph to back up the quarter-final run.
With another ACU Championship being the goal for the season, Dave went into the final round looking to close out strongly against
Jerry Collier. Unfortunately, Jerry couldn't make the call for the final, and with the bike spinning hard on the hit, Dave eased through
to a 7.44 win.
"It's been a lot of hard work to get to this point, but I think every penny spent over the winter and every hour worked has been worth it",
says Dave. "The bike is in full UEM specification, so there can be no doubt that this race bike can live with the best Europe has to offer.
"I want to take the time to thank all the sponsors who help me, and also my super team of Ric, Tom and Charlotte, who make this
possible. This bike will run 7.0s and once we can get the necessary sponsorship in place, I'm looking forward to taking on the
European riders."
The latest spy pictures to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com show
what is pretty obviously Danny Bellio's Top Methanol Funny Car, accompanied by a rather pretty-looking
nostalgia-bodied FC, and a Chevy which is being prepared for this weekend's Goodridge Dutch Finals at
Drachten. We got very few words with these pictures so if you know any more, or if you would like to send your
own spy picture, then drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
Jamie King tells us that after a long absence from the track his Corvette is finally finished
and ready to test at the Hot Rod Drags. "I would like to thank the following for their help", says Jamie.
"Firstly Paul King for a beautiful paint job and for reassembling the car, secondly Jeff Bull for building
the new methanol 468 ci Big Block Chevy, and Zannetec Motorsports for sorting the wiring and tinwork.
Without their help the car would never have made it back out."
Eurodragster.com is looking for a volunteer to send a report and pictures from this Friday evening's Parade
of Power in Wellingborough. We would require the report and pictures (from a camera rather than a camera phone)
as soon as possible after the event, and we can't offer any immediate remuneration apart from your name in lights
here on Eurodragster.com and of course our gratitude. If you would like to help then please drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. If
you are under 16 then please make sure that your parents know that you are volunteering. If we have more than
one volunteer then we will choose the first.
Selkämaa at Hockenheim. 27th August: Finland's DB-Team Selkämaa
Top Fuel Bike team had a bit of bad luck in the biggest drag racing event in Europe, at Hockenheim in Germany on
15th-17th August, writes Kaija Kohtala:
On Friday it rained so we couldn't make any practice runs and we hadn't any chance to get used to the track in advance.
In the first run the clutch was slightly damaged during the burn out and the time was a poor 8.497/223 kmh, the only time
that Kai recorded at the race. In the second run Kai probably would have got a better time but due to inclined track and
some problems with the clutch he crossed the centre line and the time wasn't recorded. In the first run on Sunday Kai had
no time due to technical problems on the starting tree: the set up for stage position was short and Kai got a red light - not
his own fault. Unfortunately, this was his best run of the whole weekend but he had no time for it. However, the team decided
not to ask if it would have been possible to make another run as Kai couldn't go into the final round due to those earlier problems.
The second run on Sunday once again resulted in crossing the centreline.
Despite everything the NitrOlympX was a very positive experience. It was a great, well organised event and there were a lot of
spectators at the race. Despite all the problems DB-Team Selkämaa wanted to offer the public a great show. Among other
things, Kai made one of his longest burnouts ever and got a big round of applause from the audience.
Editor's note: We have a small backlog of news which we will publish on tomorrow's update. Tune back
then to find out how Eurodragster.com News sponsor Marco Maurischat likes his new Pro Mod, the best birthday
present you could want, a new sponsor for Gold RV Racing, and the first outing of a twin turbo Corvette,
and please keep those news items coming to
news@eurodragster.com.
Click here to view our
American Car Imports-sponsored reports, pictures and
pit notes, or click on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page
and select the Open Sport Nationals.
If you were tuned in yesterday morning you might have found that Eurodragster.com was out of action for four minutes
at about 10:45. The site quite often slows down for a moment or two at that time of day; we can only assume that
the web server is being backed up or something since it is the small hours where the server is located in the USA.
Whatever the explanation we had some quite outstanding attempts at the Impatient E-Mail to Eurodragster.com record
when the webcam service temporarily stopped. Please see the
Eurodragster.com FAQ for more.
Racing in the wet, and no snow. 25th August: FIM/UEM European Drag Bike Championship Co-ordinator Lars Andersson has been in touch from Alahärmä where
he allowed racing to take place on a wet track:
I do mean wet. The water was visible all over the track. The reason is that it was a UEM Snowmobile Cup race on grass. This was a new thing for me, and I do hope that it was not the last time.
We have had two days of racing, with one race on each day. The format has been really good. We started with two rounds of qualifying and then a short break to prepare the ladders,
and then eliminations.
For the UEM Cup we raced in two classes, Pro Stock and Open Fuel Unlimited. In Open Fuel
Morten Rushfeldt won the first race and was runner up today, Sunday. He was
the Cup winner and also set new records. This was sure to happen because there were no records before, but anyway running 4.39 seconds and a speed of 207 kmh over 152 metres
is very good on a Snowmobile with skis on the front running on grass.
In the Pro Stock class Stefan Liminka was the winner after winning both races and also going back to Sweden with records of 4.84 seconds and 176 kmh which on a Snowmobile with a
two stroke engine with carburettors is very good.
The only thing that I did not like was the timing system. It was not up to the standard for a European Cup and we did not know that before the race. The organiser of the event has
promised to solve the problem if there is a race next year, as I hope there will.
The whole area called Power Land is a very nice area and Jukka Lillbacka take care of everything making this to a race to remember.
I do hope that we will continue this Cup next year and I will be glad to come back, even if it takes time to travel here.
I am now waiting for the race at Santa Pod in two weeks' time and hopefully nice English hot summer weather. If so then this will be a great race.
Swift snippets. 25th August: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com what appears to
be a dragster on the verge of completion. We got no words at all with the picture so if you know any more, or if you would
like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
A big Happy Birthday to UK Wild Bunch racer Chris Hartnell, who is racing at the Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County
Raceway today. Have a great day Chris. Happy Birthday also to Jemma Venables who is sixteen today and is also up here at
SCR, have a great day Jemma.
Web site updates. 25th August: In the latest update to his exclusive Racer Blog, Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer and current
FIA Championship leader Lex Joon tells the story of his weekend at Hockenheim and looks forward to the FIA European Finals in
a fortnight. You can read Lex's Blog by clicking here or by clicking
on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Markus M&uum;lnch, who supplied the photographs for our live event coverage of the NitrolympX, has now posted his own review of the
event at www.raceblog.de/2008/08/22/nitrolympx-2008-review.
The text is German language-only but Markus' excellent shots are of course universally comprehensible.
Another Markus who recently stood in for Eurodragster.com, Markus Ek, has updated his web site with pictures from the recent
Toyo Scandinavian Dragracing Series Finals at Sundsvall. You can check out Markus' superb pictures at
www.mek.nu.
We have two trashed blocks, two dead cranks and four mullered heads. We do have some good rods and pistons but nothing to put them in! The choice was between a hurried and costly rebuild, using borrowed kit, or stepping back, taking stock and preparing early for next year. If Andy had been better placed in the championships it might have been a different story, but this year has been a whole series of problems and we've never really got off the back foot. This has been particularly frustrating because we were the first car to run in the teens this year, at the Summer Nationals, so hoped to be well in the hunt for European top speeds and low ET's.
The final problem at Hockenheim looks like a rod failure and the full extent of the damage will only become clear on Monday when Andy is going to strip out the engine.
This weekend. 23rd August:
As well as the Open Sport Nationals from Shakespeare County Raceway, Gardermoen Raceway in Norway hosts the Right On Street Finals. This is a TSDS South championship round and sportsman qualifying and racing takes place on Saturday and Sunday from 9am "until we get tired". After eliminations on Sunday there will be some time for test and tune and we understand a number of FIA and UEM teams will be testing.
At Hal-Far Raceway in Malta, National Drag Racing Event 4 (a Night Event) will be taking place organised by the MDRA. This commences at 6pm both Friday and Saturday.
Grandpa's Toy story. 23rd August:
Nitro Supertwin racer Paul Castle will be running Grandpa's Toy at Drachten at the Dutch Finals over the weekend of 29-31 August. For Fuel bikes the event is demo runs only so it will be a good opportunity to test and tune and get some track time as Paul has yet to ride the bike. Paul will be receiving help from Dutch racer Stan Verheijen who has an ex Bill Furr nitro Harley and has kindley offered help with fuel etc. A full report of events will be forthcoming after the event.
Swift snippets. 23rd August:
Xtreme Racing team member Matt Glassup has confirmed that the engine in the spy picture in Swift snippets on 14th August is that formerly run by the Southern Raider Team: "Well done to Trevor and Eve Capewell, yes it is your old engine, with it's apt name Bob, it's found a good home in the Xtreme Altered now. We are just waiting on some parts and then we can continue getting the car ready for competition but its taking shape! Thanks for the best wishes with the car, hopefully we can get some good numbers out of the engine next season. It'll be good to get out amongst the NFAA boys soon, we would like to wish all the teams luck for this coming weekend."
Curse that five-dollar part... 22nd August: Reigning FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Urs Erbacher says that it took him two days to cool down after his first-round exit at Hockenheim at the weekend. As ever it was the five-dollar part which let Urs down after he and the Fat Attack team had been working hard all weekend, and it means that Urs has a job on to retain his FIA European Championship although Urs is of course going for it. Urs is also headed for the USA to contest the last two races of the NHRA season but his plans for next year are not yet set in stone.
"Our new eight stand clutch disengaged from one of the finger stops after the burnout", says Urs. "That meant that after sixty feet, when the clutch cannon came to the first fingers, the fingers didn't stop and the clutch built up too much pressure and the tyres went up in smoke. It's so bad that that happened. It was only a five-dollar part which broke and we don't know why it couldn't have broken in the Night Show or in qualifying instead of happening in the first round. But that's racing.
"We were so happy because it was a big challenge for us to switch from a nine stand clutch to the eight stand between races without a test run. But after the first qualifier we could see the new clutch worked perfectly. In the night run on Saturday we tried to go fast. The driveshaft was exactly the same as on our 4. 64 run in Gainesville this year but at around the 850 feet the track couldn't hold that set-up any longer. So that meant that he first 850 feet of the track was like NHRA's Gainesville track at the beginning this season. So that's great and the guys at Hockenheim did a great job preparing the track like the NHRA guys.
"We still have a very small chance to win the Championship. It's the same situation as last year, and won last year. So for me it is clear that we go to win the Championship again, set a new European Record, and take Low ET of the event. That's only possible with my Super Crew.
"We have decided that we will go back to the USA for the last two races at Las Vegas and Pomona. We don't have any sponsors for next year so in the USA we will again be trying to find a sponsor for our team. We are open to all enquiries. We still have sponsorship space for Las vegas and Pomona, we have a nice hospitality at the track in Vegas, so if anyone is interested to have their logo on the car for these races then please let me know.
"The plan is to build a brand new car in the States and to sell my old car. If I cannot sell the car then maybe we will run a second car next year. The driver's seat of the second car is still free because my daughter is only fourteen years old rigt now, so feel free to ask. What happens next year is totally open. We will try to run in the NHRA but we are open to running in Europe as well. Whichever company you are, we can make you big all over the world."
Lindahl brothers take control. 22nd August: FIA Pro Mod racers Team Kendall with driver Micke Lindahl and crew chief Magnus Lindahl had their most successful race to date at the NitrolympX, writes team member Krister Peterson:
After a too-early exit in the quarter-finals at Mantorp, the Kendall team was on a mission to take a better result at Hockenheim. But it didn´t start too well when the engine in our bus started to knock after only three hours from the team's base in Vargön. We took off the oil pan and saw that one rod and the crankshaft were black, so there was not much to do other than put the pan back and go to bed. At six o´clock in the morning, we started to call round and finally we found a bus just around the corner that we could borrow. Many thanks to the bus owner Johan Gustafsson and to Andreas and Tomas who helped us to unload and load in heavy rain. When we arrived at Hockenheim after 20 hours' drive it felt like a victory for us.
The qualification turned out to be a nightmare for us; coming into the last session, we were outside the field but managed to get in as number two and be the first Pro Mod car in Europe over 240mph.
One highlight in the eliminations was the semi-final race against Micke Gullqvist winning by only one hundredths of a second and setting a new speed record.
Later, for more excitement, we almost missed the final when our starter failed on the warmup and, after a hectic thrash with help from other teams(thank you guys) we made it to the starting line right on the time limit and took the first win in FIA Pro Mod for Mikael Lindahl and Team Kendall.
Now we are looking forward to going to the Finals as points leader and can hopefully secure the 2008 Championship, but the Pro Modified class is tough, and Mark Meihusen who is on second place is always quick.
Showtime and Allegheny at Hockenheim. 22nd August: Nigel Hoskison of the Showtime Nitro Funny Car team as well as has Eurodragster home and news sponsor Allegheny Technologies says the NitrolympX was an enjoyable experience for Europe's quickest AA/FC:
The Showtime FC was making its 4th appearance at the Nitrolympics. This year we would be match racing with Thomas 'Batman' Nataas who would be driving the previous Showtime car for its new owner, having made the switch from Top Fuel dragster.
The Showtime FC certainly seems to have made an impression at Hockenheim. From the moment we arrived on Thursday, pictures of the car seemed to be everywhere. All the event posters around the approach roads, 4 pictures in various sections of the programme, all the official passes, souvenir cups, but best of all, 2 advertisement banners each 8 metres x 6 metres that were positioned to be in full view from both directions on the autobahn
Friday was a day of preparation for us, unfortunately for the other racers it rained all day, finally stopping around 4.30 allowing a few hours of qualifying.
Saturday was an early start with our first run scheduled for 10.15am. In the event we didn't run until close to 12.30, by which time the temperature was above 30 deg C.
It looked a good strong run, 5.474 sec at 248mph, lowering the previous best by a funnycar from 5.497sec which John set last year.
Bob spotted a cylinder out before half track. When the crew reached the top end John said it had kicked a rod out – not the ideal start to the weekend! We now had the rest of the day to change the motor and make ready for the legendary Nightshow.
We were pleased to welcome as our guests for the day, staff and customers from the German office of sponsor ATI Allegheny Technologies, all of whom were making their first visit to drag racing. Their reaction was summed up by one of them who had recently attended the Formula 1 race at Hockenheim – “ Forget F1, this is real motorsport”
The Night Show at Hockenheim is an experience like no other in drag racing, stunts, burnout contests, fireworks and at 9.45pm the nitro funny cars finished off in the dark – header flames lighting up the track and grandstands. John and Thomas did half passes and were together all the way, 2.679sec/2.693sec at the 330ft.
No problems back in the pits after stripping the motor, rebuilding would be finished off Sunday morning as by now it was well after midnight.
Rebuild completed and ready to run. A slight problem with the blower during the warm up, but with that fixed, John was strapped in before we left the pits and straight down to the start where Thomas had kindly held back so we could run together. John was away first and stayed ahead as Thomas hit tyre shake. Around 800ft the tyres lit up (lost traction) and John got off the throttle running through in 6.004 sec.
The second run was almost a carbon copy with the tyres lighting up a little earlier at around the 500 ft mark. The car was pulling well and was stuck down to the track then it blew the tyres away. After checking the clutch system and the computer graph we have found a fault in the clutch system which is allowing the bearing to fully retract which in turn allows the clutch to lock up to early
Checking the motor back in the pits, unfortunately the crank was just blackened on #4 main bearing. The crank would have to be replaced when we got back to the UK.
The end of another enjoyable weekend in Germany. We would like to thank Rico Anthes and his team, the Hockenheimring organisation and officials, and of course the fans. We now look forward to the Eurofinals at Santa Pod 4th – 7th September where there are scheduled to be 6 Nitro Funny cars in action.
As well as crewing on the Showtime FC, Nigel Hoskison of was kept busy over the weekend entertaining staff and customers from Allegheny Technologies German office and answering enquiries from several racers interested in the companies products.
"We are trying to grow our motorsports business in Germany along similar lines to our UK operation. Being involved with drag racing and the Showtime FC has been of great benefit in demonstrating to our existing and potential customers that the motorsports market is a key part of our business.The Nitrolympics provided a unique opportunity to take that message to the German market. It worked! I've already had 2 emails that both thanked us for the hospitality and asked for material quotations.
Whilst waiting in the line up on Saturday I was approached by both a bike and car racer wanting info on Titanium for their 2009 vehicles and fairly in depth discussions followed. Later on I was tracked down in the pits by another racer for yet more conversations about potential Titanium usage. All in all a successful weekend for both the company and the Showtime FC.
Kuno's thanks. 22nd August:
Lucas Oil USA-backed Pro Mod Driver Norbert Kuno and team like to say thank you for the great support by the German fans in Hockenheim.
"It was nice to race for you and we had never been the Top Qualifier positon in an FIA race before. For us it was a great moment. We were a little bit unlucky as, in round two, the two-step rev limiter didn't work as it should and pushed the car over the staging light. That gave us a hard time, particularly because the final was so close. It was one of our dreams to go in the final in Hockenheim in front of more than 50,000 spectators. But that's racing. The car runs great so far, and we want to say thank you to all sponsors: Lucas Oil; Spengler Betontechnik; Sachs; and SSI Supercharger.
We hope to make some good runs in England as well like Hockenheim and step up in the points to be back in the Top 10 in the Pro Mod field.
Bike Weekend closing. 22nd August: ACU UK Drag Bike Championship, 9.50 Bike, National Association of Supertwin,
and 8.50 Bike racers are reminded that today is the official closing date for entry to the Extreme Performance
Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway on 13th-14th September, which is a Championship round for these classes with
the exception of Top Fuel Bike, and a demonstration round for 8.50 Bike. Entry after today, if accepted,
will be subject to a 100% late entry fee. You can download entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at
www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
You can view Version 2 of the official entry list for the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend by
clicking here. If
you think that you should already be on the list then you can contact Paula Marshall on 01933 313625 (outside the
UK +44 1933 313625) or by E-Mail at
paula.marshall@btconnect.com.
APIRA Championship outcomes. 22nd August: The final round of the APIRA Drag Racing series takes place this weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway's Open Sports Nationals. Simon has been looking at the possible outcomes:
In Super Mod, Nigel Payne looks good to be champion and congratulations to him on his first championship.
TheSuper Comp title will be between Dave Catton, Frank Mason and Jon Morton and any of these three has a chance to win with less than one round in it. In Super Pro ET, Dave Ward, Nigel Turner, Barry Giles and Rick Cooke are leaders but there could be a surprise winner if any of these go out in the first round and qualify poorly.
In Super Gas, Frank Mason (who incidentally has his Corvette for sale) has a 60 pt lead over other contenders Jon Morton and Conrad Stanley who will need to go further than Frank in eliminations. Dave Cherrett has a 120 point lead over Chris Kenny and Mark Watkins in Super Street, so Chris and Mark will need to qualify better and go at least one round further than Dave to win.
The 23 car field in Pro ET is wide open with five drivers within 100 points of leader John Atkinson; Ian Brown, Lee Huxley, Dan Page and Martin Green will be slugging it out for the championship trophy. In Sportsman ET, Geoff Cowley has a 50 point lead over Ian Jackson. Third placed Ralph Young, 60 points further back, will need to go two rounds further than Ian and qualify better to win.
B&H Street Eliminator is a tight fight between Steve Nash, John Webster and Jason Weir who have a spread of only 30 points. Outlaw Anglia is between Paul Hensher and Simon Barlow, with Simon needing to go one round further and qualify at least as well as Paul to overtake him.
Wild Bunch is another close class with Peter Yates, Mark Richardson, Chris Hartnell and Darren Law all able to win the championship trophy with only 50 points covering these four. Junior Dragster sees Zak Johnson, Jayne Kay and Vicky Molden as front runners; if these three all go out in the first round, Anna Stanley or Scott Hauser could be in with the chance of an upset.
In VW Sportsman, Polly Naylor, Eurodragster.com Honorary Staff Member Spencer Tramm and Spencer's day job colleague Adrian Wigley are the contenders with only 40 points between Polly and Adrian. There is a strong entry of 15 in Outlaw Flat Four with James Wotton and Jim Smith in the lead but likely to be chased hard by Dave Dinning and Bernie Newbury.
Top Fuel Bike is once again between Steve Woollatt and Steve Carey with only 30 points in it. In Funny Bike,Chris Hall is 40 points ahead of Kev Charman. Pro Stock also has a 40 point lead, with Len Paget heading Dave Beck. Comp Bike is even closer with Phil Leamon ahead of Stuart Crane by only ten points. Super Street Bike, with many riders racing for the second weekend in a row following the NitrolympX, sees Steve Venables 60 points ahead of team mate Graham Balchin and Scott Baldwin a further ten points behind.
9.50 Bike has Team Breakout Shaun Spiers in the lead over Richard Sawatzki and Andy Haley has to win the event or go two rounds clear of the others to overtake them, with five rounds of racing in prospect.
The National Association of Supertwins' three classes are all still to be decided. Wendy Clutterbuck, Martin Wildash and Shaun Rodman could win Fuel with the event winner victorious. In the Gas division Chris Mott is 60 points ahead of Andrew Smith. In the well-supported ET division, Peter Harrison, Eurodragster.com Honorary Staff Member John Hackney and Barrie Gregory have only 20 points splitting them.
You can find the APIRA Championship standings on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
In other Open Sport Nationals news, Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association promoter Lawrie Gatehouse says that the NFAA will again be running a Cannonball-type format at the Open Sport Nationals, with the two cars with the quickest agregate ETs from the qualifying sessions facing off in the final and the third and fourth quickest also racing for places.
Eurodragster.com will be reporting live from the Open Sport Nationals in association with
American Car Imports.
We will be posting reguarly-updated reports on the on-track action, together with pit notes updated throughout each day and
photo galleries posted at the end of each day. The Webster
Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam will be on-line throughout the
weekend and will be scheduled to post a picture every sixty seconds.
We are very pleased to welcome Roger back to the coverage team at Shakespeare County Raceway this weekend.
We will post a direct Home Page link to our coverage as soon as it commences, but in the meantime you can view the Event Index page, which includes links to the official entry list and Saturday's provisional running order, by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting the Open Sport Nationals.
Hall of Fame decals. 22nd August:British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Co-ordinator Stuart Bradbury says that due to huge demand for the new British Drag Racing Hall oF Fame Supporters decal, the BDRHoF have now increased the number of outlets available to distribute decals to racers and the general public.
In addition to Carter Motorsport, Shakespeare County Raceway and York Raceway, decals will now be available from Santa Pod Raceway's Merchandising outlets. However, If you are having trouble getting hold of a decal, you could always send a cheque for £1.34 inc postage to the BDRHoF office at Adelaide Cottage, 39 Hatton Park Road, Wellingborough Northants, NN8 5AT.
Alternately, if you intend visiting US Automotive, they are available over the counter at £1 each. All proceeds will be supporting those who have made significant contribution to British Drag Racing over the years.
Web site updates. 22nd August:
Eurodragster.com's Reserve Photographer Peter Donaldson has updated his site with two galleries from recent Santa Pod events, Friday's Peak Performance Day and Saturday's Run What You Brung.
Alan Currans' nostalgia site The Acceleration Archive has been updated with Page 8 of Mark Gredzinski's unique collection of pictures and artwork has just been added to the site. You will find everything from Sammy Miller's rocket car to Steve Green's Cortina and much more as well. You can access Mark's new page by following the What's New link on the Site Map.
You can view Version 1 of the official entry list for the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend by
clicking here. If you think that you should already be on the list then you can contact Paula Marshall on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or by E-Mail at paula.marshall@btconnect.com.
Pro Mod Challenge standings. 21st August: Marco Maurischat of Eurodragster.com News sponsor
Exhaust-coating.de has been in touch with the
final qualifying standings in the European Exhaust-coating.de Pro Mod Challenge. The following eight racers
will contest the Challenge during Pro Mod qualifying at the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway in
September:
1. Micke Lindahl 600 points
2. Urban Johansson 595 points
3. Marc Meihuizen 580 points
4. Mats Eriksson 560 points
5. Roger Johansson 545 points
6. Micke Gullquist 515 points
7. Patrik Wikström 435 points
8. Bruno Bader 415 points
The other points earners in the Challenge were:
9.Andy Robinson 410 points
10.Kristian Nyström 405 points
11. Freddy Fagerström 375 points
12. Michael Nord 360 points
13. Marko Lantto 345 points
14. Norbert Kuno 280 points
15. Terje Håkonsen 260 points
16. Robert Joosten 245 points
17. Niclas Andersson 155 points
18. Danny Cockerill 140 points
19. Rolf Ammann 105 points
20. Robert Koper 100 points
21. Torsten Kath 90 points
=22. Graham Ellis 85 points
=22. Jari Parén 85 points
=22. Jan Egil Kvalvik 85 points
Wright's plea. 21st August: UK AA/Fuel Altered racer Matthew Wright of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor CCTV Enforcement has been in touch to explain his absence from the track in recent months.
"My coach was torched", Matthew told Eurodragster.com. "The altered is OK, fortunately it was at Bill Felstead's being updated. But we lost the mag, rear wing, and wheelie bars which were all in the coach. Also all of our pistons, rings etc. are gone.
"You don't realise how expensive all this stuff is until you lose it and this has put us out of contention for the season. But we really want to run this year. I don't want to give up because I know I can run a six in the car with Bill behind me, but unless a sponsor comes forward I doubt we'll be able to race. If anyone wants to donate anything at all from pistons to fuel or oil then please contact Bill or I.
"The only good thing which has come out of it was that the engine from the coach is now with the FB Racing guys. We had an eventful weekend getting the engine out!"
On the business front, Matthew's new company Wright Guards Security can cater for all your security needs including event security and private investigation. You can contact Matthew through the company's web site.
Pistons in the Prom. 21st August:
FB Racing's 8-second street legal '34 Ford was flying the flag for drag racing amongst rally cars, circuit racers and go-karts in Cheltenham town-centre on Saturday. All of the FB's are members of Cheltenham Motor Club (CMC) and driver Ian Hook was quick to accept the invitation to display the team's street rod as part of the CMC's involvement in the MSA's Motorsport Week. Titled “Pistons in the Prom” the event was a mini car show in Cheltenham's main shopping street, the Promenade.
“It was a great opportunity to get amongst the public and to promote drag racing and B & H Street Eliminator in particular. And with the next round at Shakey this coming weekend I'm hoping some people will take up my invitation to visit us in the pits.”
“The car was of course driven both to and from the town centre from my home on the outskirts (that woke the neighbours up!). The looks on the faces of the Saturday afternoon shoppers was great and I even had a shouted “How fast does it go mister?” from one kid whilst I was stopped at the lights!”
Round 6 of the seven-round 2008 B & H Automotive Street Eliminator series will take place this weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway's Open Sport Nationals.
Wild Bunch OSN Preview. 21st August:
Wild Bunch Race Co-ordinator, Claire Meaddows, writes with a quick preview of the Wild Bunch round at the Open Sports Nationals event this weekend:
The Wild Bunch are really looking forward to the event this weekend as there will be ten cars competing. The event will be the club's ninth round of our contingency sponsors Real Steel series, as well as the 3rd and final Round of the 2008 Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series.
At the recent York event, Dave Rowlands quickly got a handle on the York track in his Destiny's Angel altered, and was able to greatly reduce the gap to Real Steel Series leader Darren Law's Wicked Lady , with Chris Hartnell's Backdraft improving his 3rd place position, after his second win in a row with some very low 9's and some very high wheelies. With 4th place runners Team Cunning Plan not running, 5th place holder Terry Clifford will be looking to break into the Top 4 in his golden Ratcatcher Resurrection slingshot.
Dave Rowlands is currently leading the Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series by a big margin over a 3-way tie for 2nd place between Darryl Howells' Chemical Reaction slingshot, Team Cunning Plan and the Wicked Lady, so there is all to play for in that Series.
Can Darren Law stretch his lead once again, or Riot Racing stablemate Dave Rowlands overhaul him to go into first place? Can ‘Crazy' Chris capitalise on his recent return to form or will Terry improve on his 2nd place at the last event? Will Mark Richardson's Pony Express get right back on song after his recent gearbox rebuild and will Darryl's slingshot dip further into the 9's? Will Ed Yates run a PB in the Dog's RamRaider slingshot and Keith Crampton shave a second off his, in his beautifully turned out Soultown Shaker slingshot? Will Phil Sweeney run consistently in the mid 8's and take some wins with his great reactions or will newest MSA-license holder Andy Cresswell take his first win in the Living the Dream slingshot? We look forward to Saturday, Sunday, Monday to find out.
Swift snippets. 21st August:
Coinciding with the eventual arrival of his injected-nitro Top Methanol Dragster, Derek Flynn of Eurodragster.com sponsor Gold RV has announced an associate sponsorship deal with Lucas Oil. "We look forward to working with Lucas Oil", says Derek. "We already sell and use their products in our workshops and know the benefits of using the high quality oils they supply and the superior lubrication that they offer". You can read more, and take a look at the new car, in Derek's latest exclusive Blog entry which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
We don't as a rule highlight individual vehicles as they go on the Jeff Bull-sponsored Swap Meet pages, but we'll make an exception for triple UEM Top Fuel Bike Champion Ian King, who is citing business commitments as his reason to sell up. Ian's bike has a massive pedigree and is being sold as a turnkey operation with spares and support.
Many thanks to FIA European Drag Racing Championship Co-ordinator Kjell Pettersson for forwarding us the post-Nitrolympx points standings in the FIA European Drag Racing Championships. You can find the latest FIA Championship standings on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Web site updates. 21st August:
Lizz McCarthy has updated the latest news and race report for UK FUnny Bike racer Kev Charman's web site.
Simon Hodder has updated his site at www.simaxphotography.co.uk to include a number of pictures from the recent Test and Tune day at Santa Pod (August 15). He says "There have been a few changes to the site, not the least being that I've had to introduce a small charge for certain requests to cover my costs, mainly for sending CDs out, although if race teams, car builders and the like want web-resolution pictures for their web sites I'm still more than happy to oblige for free in return for a link or credit."
The Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award has been increased to £75 after went unclaimed at
the NitrolympX. The money will be presented to the first racer
this weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available to all racers
in all Championship classes during qualifying and eliminations
but will only be awarded for the first perfect light of the event. If not won this weekend then
the Award will be increased to £100 for the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway; if it is won
then it will be reset to £50 for the FIA European Finals. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with
performance hose and fitting manufacturer Speedflow, whose web site you can find at
www.speedflow.co.uk.
As Shakespeare County Raceway's timing system works to six decimal places we must clarify that although the Perfect
Light Award goes to three places, we will not pay out for red lights with zeroes in the first three decimals
since a foul is a foul however far in the first non-zero digit may be. So a reaction time of 0.000100 will win you
the money (if you're first to do it), but -0.000100 will not.
To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers will be required to carry Eurodragster.com/Gold RV
Perfect ET decals, one on each side of the vehicle whether car or bike. If you pull this weekend's first
Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then we will not pay out and the next person to pull a Perfect ET will
get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. The decals (pictured)
will be available in the Signing On office; please note that, as is usual with contingency
schemes, racers are responsible for requesting or picking up decals when signing on. A list of
required decals per class is always on display in the Signing On office.
Many thanks to Julie Willcox for forwarding the final entry list and the provisional running order for Saturday which can be found on the event page.
Lucas Oil OSN contingency awards. 20th August:
Shakespeare County Raceway is pleased to announce the continuation of the track's sponsorship scheme with Lucas Oil Products at this weekend's Open Sport Nationals, writes SCR's Jerry Cookson. “Thanks again to the support of Lucas Oil UK MD Les Downey, class winners in Nostalgia Fuel Altered, Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Street Eliminator and Outlaw Anglia will be entitled to collect a case of 20/50+ racing oil, provided that they are displaying the Lucas Oil shield stickers which will be available from the signing-on office.
Lucas Oil Products will also be sponsoring four special ET/MPH trophies to classes announced on race day.
Jerry also reminds us that sponsorship is still being sought for the Best Appearing Bike award to be judged by the tracks scrutineering team. If anyone want to take this opportunity up for £30 then give me or Julie a call on the office on 01789 720180 or e-mail enquiries@shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk, says Jerry.
Advance tickets for the race can still be purchased up until 5.00pm Thursday 20th by calling 01789 414119, and any racers wanting additional crew tickets, these again can be purchased up until Thursday on the above contact number.
Lucas Oil JD contingency award extended. 20th August:
Following the announcement that Top Fuel racer Andy Carter is sponsoring Junior Dragster at the two remaining national championship points rounds (Open Sports Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway and the National Finals at Santa Pod), Phil Evans will be coordinating the sponsorship and will be in the pits at Shakespeare County Raceway on Saturday to distribute Lucas Oil stickers to all racers who want them.
Phil says that he will additionally be providing a £50 cheque for the winner of Junior Dragster at the Euro Finals
(which is a non points round for Junior), provided the winning car is carrying a Lucas Oil sticker per the requirements of the Andy Carter
sponsorship.
The nominations are... 20th August:
Glenn Ramsden of UK Event Safety says he is on the hunt for NFAA award nominations:
Yes, its almost that time of the year again and on the back of Lawrie Gatehouse announcing the NFAA dinner dance, once again we are searching for nominations for the 'Spirit of Fuel Altereds' Award.
As you may be aware, last year's award was presented to Lawrie in recognition for bringing the class together and providing support. We are looking for either an individual team member or full team that have entered into the spirit of the class throughout the 2008 season. Not necessarily looking for those that have turned the best times or run most consistently but that specal person that is always there, helps in the background or even pilots your car, just that certain someone that deserves recognition for working within the 'Spirit of Fuel Altereds'.
UK Event Safety will never be part of a multi national conglomerate so we can't afford a very impressive cash prize but the winner of the trophy will recieve a cheque for £100.00 to buy the crew a beer or a breakfast.
Your nomination should be sent to Glenn and Mandy at UK Event Safety.
Nuthin' Fancy back together. 20th August:
Pilot of the Nuthin' Fancy methanol-burning altered Joe Bond says the car has been put back together since the team experienced problems at the Summer Nationals:
We have been chasing valvetrain and drivetrain problems all year, with a dropped valve at Springspeed, then lifter failure at the Summer Nationals. This year we stepped up with a more powerful engine, and I'm still learning to drive a fuel altered, they are mad things, you think you might have a ballpark idea of how they react, then they throw you a curve ball. It's all good fun though.
For Open Sports, we stripped the motor completely and started from scratch, and found a few bits and bobs that needed straightening out (both metaphorically and physically). The revised combination is slightly different to what we've been running so far, so we are looking forward to getting some track time with it.
There are a load of people I need to thank; first, thanks to Andy Hill for sourcing us some pistons to use, and everyone outside the team who helped us with bits, machine time and other misc bits and bobs to help us get back onto the track without breaking the bank again. We run mostly off our own backs, but a few select organisations have helped us over the last eight months; first Peter Walters at PWRD for all his design work, as well as some other stuff which is in the pipeline. If all goes well, then look out for posters and hopefully T-shirts in the not so distant future. If you need anything to do with your team designed then his work is awesome and service (and patience) is great. Go to www.pwrd.co.uk and get in touch.
Second, Dominic Romney at ModernPics for his help in photography and all manner of media in motorsport. He takes tons of photos at meetings at Shakespeare County Raceway and can be found at his site www.modernpics.co.uk. He recently launched sets of wallpapers, which all can be found at his site so get in touch.
Finally, my family and my crew have been great, keeping the car ready and when everything looked grim with the engine, they have got us ready to go racing again. This last week they have been exceptionally fantastic because while they have been slaving away getting the car ready I've been at home nursing stitches in my stomach which come out the day before the meeting! Thanks guys and girls. our website has been slightly updated with new banners and logos as a quick mid season revamp, check back for more updates over the next few weeks.
Looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend. Have a safe weekend racing.
Why Cannon fitted a Racepak. 20th August:
Supertwin racer Chris Hannam says he was pleased with his run on the V-TWin at the Peak Performance Day last Friday:
We had a very successful test; the fuel tank is awesome and works well and the new rear brake does what it says on the tin which is important,
On the 7.8 first run I hit the throttle but promptley feathered it, shall we say, to 50% and shut off around 1000ft hitting 151mph at the eighth and 152mph at the quarter, but I wanted to check the brakes. At this stage I thought I'd had a reasonable run, but this is why we fitted the state-of-the-art Racepak: it monitors the amount your arse nips on the run and calls you out.
We get back to find leak down as we had melted some plugs, so the super team lead by Midgo got the head off, cleaned the seats and we we ready to rock but this time I was more settled. On this second run, we had a perfect run to the 800ft mark when I closed the throttle at 5.9 second into the run, as it was getting fast, and we ended up up with a 7.41 at 176mph. The incrementals were 1.30 to 60ft and 4.8 at 159mph to the eighth. Conservative estimations have this into the 7.2s at 190 plus if I had stayed on the throttle. I should point out that we had no damage other than cracked porcelain on the plugsand so this will be our base line from which to tune as the first eighth is where it's at and to get a big improvement, we need a 1.10 60ft, 2.7 to 330ft, 4.3 at 170 to the eighth - then we will be cooking on gas and the second eighth will follow.
As for our third and final run, we had made fuel and clutch adjustments which seemed to counter each other to 60ft and then I got out of it as we went right and I didn't want to break it, as you should never get on and of the throttle on a fuel motor, on our return to the pits we serviced the bike and were ready to make another pass as i was mad as hell with myself and my bad run so I would have made this one a full hard pass, unfortunately we found a crankshaft oil seal leaking and the decision was made to check this out before running the bike, as we don't want to destroy a £15k motor for a two quid seal and dodgy brg, so that was it for the day.
There has to be thanks to the super crew of Midgo, Al Smith and Mike Vickers for getting the bike turned round at the track in a very professional manner and also even bigger thanks to Neil for doing a great job in fitting the Racepak and getting everything to work as it should, and haul it all to the track, all ontop of a 70 hour working week, so thanks mate, you're the best and I couldn't and wouldn't do it without you.
Also big thanks to the the guys at Webster Race Engineering who at short notice did some minor fairing mods to stop the fairing vibrating due to the twin being a ditch pump. A very professional outfit and would recomend them to all, top job.
That brings me to the Pod; we were greeted with fantastic weather and a great track and all the marshals and staff ran it just like a UEM round and looked after our needs and even prepped the track just before we ran, so top job and thank you, and with photo guru Pete Donaldson there with the all important pics, once again Pete a pic tells a thousand words, top class and the shots tell me things I need to know so top job as normal and please keep up the good work.
Our next outing hopefully will be the Extreme Bike Weekend were we will make some more passes and take on the might of Super Street Bike champion Steve Venables so I'll have to be on my game and, while I'm sure we have the numbers on Steve, my reactions are crap so it's not over till the fat lady sings. I look forward to competion as this always brings the best out of me when I'm up against it and thanks again to all for your support.
Has anyone seen my trophy? 20th August:
Super Street Bike racer Peter Bellenie has written to say he has in his possession from the Nitrolympx last weekend a Junior Dragster trophy:
"It's a semi finalist trophy so it should have gone to Permin Schmid. I just wondered if anyone can supply an address/email from this person to me at peter.bellenie@zen.co.uk so I can return it, or pass it on if this person is at the European finals. It was acquired by someone, known to us both (not any one of my team). I had a call to say it was found in their van and I would like to get it returned asap."
Swift snippets. 20th August:
Darren Prentice has been in touch to remind car and bike racers of the opportunity to take part in the Parade of Power, the annual event in Wellingborough Town Centre to promote the FIA European Finals, which
this year takes place at 7:00 pm on Friday 29th August. Vehicles should be capable of doing five 'laps' of the short course around the Town Centre and will then be parked up in the Market Square for meet and greet with spectators. Pre-entry is essential; if you are interested then please contact Darren at darren@santapod.com or on 01234 782828.
Darren Prentice is also the man to contact for any racer wishing to hire portable toilets for exclusive use in their pits at the FIA European Finals. If you wish to hire a portable toilet then again please contact Darren at darren@santapod.com or on 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828).
Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association promoter Lawrie Gatehouse says that the NFAA will again be running a Cannonball-type format at the Open Sport Nationals, with the two cars with the quickest aggregate ETs from the qualifying sessions facing off in the final and the third and fourth quickest also racing for places.
Web site updates. 20th August:
Markus Münch, who was our trackside photographer for the NitrolympX, has posted Friday pictures from at his site and tells us that Saturday and Sunday shots are in the pipeline.
A new forum for European Drag racing has opened. Irrespective of the flavour of your racing, the Sands Lounge (Sands standing for Street AND Strip) will become the spot for a bit of online bench racing and a bit of fun. The site has links to the main tracks and of course Eurodragster and boasts a wickedly good jukebox. There is also a store stocked full of quality US-sourced merchandise but most importantly, the membership is growing.
The site brings together all the different pockets of racers that are typically only on club forums such as Mustang Owners or MMA. Built by Pete Walters and owned by the UK club 'Street and Strip' the forum is a lot of fun and uses the best software. Membership will offer a mine of information with members representing most classes such as NSCC, Outlaw Anglia and B&H Automotive Street Eliminator. Most of the banter is around the street classes and uniquely, there is a separate forum for members to raise issues with tracks directly in a controlled and constructive manner.
Freeman on Hammond's digger. 20th August:
No sooner than we pressed the 'send' key on Vic Hammond's slingshot dragster, driver Sam Freeman sent further details:
Although the car is owned by Vic Hammond, I found it in the States and mailed the details to Vic; a day later a deposit was paid and 10 days
later we went out to look and then buy the car. While we were there in South Carolina, someone mentioned that there was a big nostalgia meet in
Bowling Green Kentucky at the weekend. So we drove up there, arrived on Friday night, and spent two days looking round and watching the racing. So one week and 2,700 miles later, we departed from Orlando with Vic being the new owner of a blown alky front engined digger.
We had a few problems getting a decent price and availability of shipping the whole outfit (car, Spares, golf buggy and trailer) on a ro-ro to the UK. Eventually it was decided that we sell the trailer on in the States and ship it all back in a container; the process for this was much
quicker.
The container was released to us on Friday 15th and we were allowed to transfer the contents into a truck. We had decided to leave it in the
truck overnight and take it direct to the Pod on Saturday the 16th for a couple of shakedown passes.
A quick spanner check and some borrowed methonal (thanks Matthew Seamark - Gingerman Junior Dragster) and it was running, a minor
problem with a leaking shutoff valve was soon rectified with some help from other racers. As Vic needs the throttle pedal adjusting to suit
him he asked me to drive and I didn't need asking twice.
On the first run, the burnout felt good and at the hit (which is much harsher than my suspended altered) it hoisted the front wheels clear, I lost the
throttle pedal, it was still where it should be but getting my foot on it was a different matter, eventually finding it and I was off again,
through the top end chute out and on the brakes. Several bounces with the car over a foot off the ground I came to a stop on the track, the top
end crew were there in seconds to tow me off. A 9.4 at 148mph, good enough and plenty left to come.
Second run roll through the water and hit it up on the tyre and away, I'd decided to try and drive it off the line and just squeeze the
throttle open, same result as the first run, wheels up and away, once settled down I got back on it and drove it to about three quarters track and
rolled through, no chute and light braking stopped it easily with only about half the previous bouncing about, at least I managed to get it
off the track this time. 8.88 at 147mph. I was satisfied that everything was as it should be, we loaded it up and got it back to my new workshop where on sunday I gave it a once over with no problems.
The car details are that it is a 200 inch Tuttle FED chassis, 370 ci small block Chevy 6/71 underdriven Blower with a soft tune so theres plenty in reserve.
My personal thanks to Vic for allowing me to drive his new car, also to the following for the help at the track Paul Shaw, Chris Bishop, Lee,
Cyril Hooper, Micky Moore.
Where next? the plan is for Vic to have some fun running it after some testing and adjustments, no definite plans for class or championships
to be entered he just wants to enjoy running the car.
The pit gates will open at 12 midday on Friday 22nd August; if people wish to arrive early there will be access to the toilets and water in the pit area, but please do not set up until instructed to by the pit marshals. Anyone who does set up and is in the wrong area will be asked to move.
Scrutineering will start at 14.30 on Friday, and will take place in the fire up road opposite to the Signing on office.
As everyone is aware, we have been subjected yet again to heavy rain for the last couple of weeks, and there are some areas of the site that have been affected. So with that in mind, we have extended the pits further than normal to ensure that everyone has hard standing for their vehicles.
A pit plan will be available on the day, and you will be taken to your allocated space by the pit marshals.
A final entry list and running order for Saturday will be issued on Eurodragster on Wednesday. Start time on Saturday will be 9.00am, we are hoping to get 4 qualifying sessions on Saturday weather and track conditions permitting.
There will be a Drivers and Riders meeting at 8.30am on Saturday morning in the grandstand nearest to the pairing lanes. Please can everyone make the effort to attend.
Volkzone ticket offer. 19th August:VW Action 2008 is taking place on 29-31st August 2008 at Santa Pod Raceway.
Most people know that VW Action is the UK's longest running VW show, but only those that have been in the last few years will know quite to what extent it has become a totally inclusive, family event. Air-cooled or Water-cooled, old or young, VW Action caters for all. The show has a unique blend of elements which combine classic features such as the Concours Events, Trade and Autojumble, with other attractions such as VW Drag Racing, Charity Auction, Monster Truck, free Children's Area, Live Bands & Comedians, Pyjama Party 'Disco', Off-Road Track and much much more (please check the website for full details ).
There is an advance ticket offer that ends on Friday 22nd August and after this point, tickets are only available on the gate. The prices are: Advance weekend £30 (Gate weekend £35), Advance Sunday £10 (Gate Sunday £15). Tickets for Saturday are on the gate only at £15.
Please note that advance tickets will not be sent out. They are to be collected at the 'Advance Ticket Collection Point' on the gate at Santa Pod. Please bring either your PayPal or NAS Events email and one extra form of ID.
Either way, readers are encouraged to support the event and remember VZi's sponsors.
Invite to run at Silverstone. 19th August:
James Forrester, Show Manager at Future Publishing and organiser of an event at Silverstone has sent an invitation for racers to run at Silverstone, a location with historical drag racing connections from the 1970s. He says:
We're looking for drag car demos (particularly B&H Street Eliminator racers) for TRAX, a performance and modified car show at Silverstone on Sunday 7th September. Demos will take place on the 0-60 Sprint Test. It's an un-prepped surface so we won't be breaking any records but anyone who can put on a good show is welcome. For more info contact james.forrester@futurenet.co.uk.
Kågered's thanks. 19th August:
Top Fuel dragster pilot Micke Kågered would like to thank his crew for the Nitrolympx win in Hockenheim on Sunday.
Micke, who had to catch a flight back to Sweden sunday night, was sorry he could not attend the banquet to pick up his trophy. He says; "we have engagemants for ours sponsors Peugeot and Palfinger this coming week, so I needed to get back home quickly.. and I must admit it did not really cross my mind I could end up winning this event to be honest". Micke would like to take the opportunity to thank the organisers Hockenheim Ring for the weekend. "Well organised event, good track preparation.. we could not ask for more really.. and it is just great to have Hockenheim back in the FIA championhip again!"
Micke continues;" I did not make the usual pre-event comment before the Hockenheim on Eurodragster and the reason was I did not really know what to say or expect", reveals Micke. "The thing is we found a clutch related fault after the race at Mantorp Park. For all we know it has been there for pretty much the same period things have gone real bad for us, we have just not identified it as a possible cause before. When we finally found it, we directly realised we were on to something, but we did not want to anything before we had seen the car on track at Hockenheim. Now, I can tell that what we changed after Mantorp has made a difference", says Micke. As one of my mechanics commented "after spending two seasons in the wilderness", it feels like we are back on track again. There still remains work and evaluation to be done to get the car to improve its performance at some specific points, so we need more runs. But we are very happy with what we achieved this last couple of days, no doubt about that.
"What I really wanted to highlight with the help of Eurodragster.com" says Micke "is the the fact my crew have continued to work incredibly well together through all the failures. They (or we rather) have just continued to systematically work with the car to try and improve performance and none of us has stopped believing in us as a team. The good team spirit is what I believe have kept us going the last two years and this weekend we finally saw the turn for the better we have been hoping for."
"With the tough competition today in top fuel dragster, this win does not grant anything when we come to Santa Pod in two weeks time. However, we now have a competitive car again and the way things turned out in Hockenheim we are four drivers that still have the chance to win the FIA European Championship", states Micke. "If we have counted right, I am in 3rd place, 10 points behind Lex (who is in the lead) and 5 points behind Andy. 10 points is only half a round, so it is very tight between us to say the least. Urs still also has a good chance from his current 4th position (I think 26 points after Lex).
So what I wanted to say really is a BIG thank you to all my crew AND not least all sponsors for sticking with me through all bad times, I now feel more hopeful for the future than in a very long time.
The photo on the left shows part of Micke Kågered´s mechanics crew. From the left Edvin (clutch), Emil (tuning), Mika (diver), Max (heads) and Alan (tuning). Missing in the picture are engine mechanics Gary (Page), Terry, truck driver Kenta and team coordinator Åsa.
Photo of the final between Micke and Lex courtesy of Remco Scheelings.
Bulldog 22 (Police 0). 19th August:Team Turboville went to the 22nd Bulldog Bash at Shakespeare County Raceway just praying for good weather and good times:
What we didn't expect was to be transported into a nightmare scenerio remeniscent of Nazi Germany in 1940! It seems that Assistant Chief Constable Bill Holland of the Warwickshire Police had gotten a bug up his nose after being knocked back by Stratford Council's licensing team in no uncertain way. They over-ruled his objections to the event at every turn and praised the Hells' Angels record on safety and professionalism stating that it was probably the best run festival of any kind in Europe, the town welcomed it and the £2.5 million it brings to the local economy every year.
On arriving in the area we were met by hundreds of police officers from several counties (all on overtime of course) dozens of number plate recognition camera vans, squad cars, un-marked cars, motorcycles, riot vans, swat teams (fully armed with automatic weapons) undercover surveillance teams, snipers, the lot! They closed off all the side roads to the local villages for some unfathomable reason. They set up a big camp for themselves in adjoining fields and stole the 6" water main for their shower block. This is the main reserved for the fire brigade should there be an emergency on site! They commandeered the roundabouts and lay-bye's, coned off the main road, implemented 'stop and search' powers (only allowed to run for 24hrs but they maintained for 4 days) stopped, threatened and intimidated everyone they could, stripped vehicles and searched innocent members of the public. That after all was the sole purpose of the exercise, to intimidate people and frighten them off.
My own crew were stopped, searched, thrown into a caged Transit and taken to Leamington Spa, miles away, on false charges which were then dropped, as were my crew, miles from the track, half a day later and quite traumatised by the whole event. These are decent people, grandparents in their family saloon, on their first visit to the Bulldog Bash. Like everyone, they felt very safe and secure once on site but were scared to death to go outside.
Local residents held several meetings attended by record numbers and they all let the police know that they were not wanted under any circumstance and that they objected most vehemntly to Bill Holland's personal vendetta that had cost them over £1.4 million of local taxpayers money. This went on well into Sunday as they actually blocked off lanes of the dual carriageways out of Stratford to use them for mass stop and search operations causing traffic chaos!
The result of all this? two convictions for possession of camping tools (lethal weapons) and possesion of herbs. ACC Bill Holland proclaimed the whole operation a complete success and well worth the money. His excuse for all this? A motorcyclist got shot last year, 40 miles away on a motorway. The local licensing comittee visited the site and received a standing ovation from the crowd. The local school dropped some children off for the day to do a project and they had a great time. The local Rotary club were there all weekend and not only had a great time they got a lot of money for their charity. There were no crimes and no incidents on site and everyone was well behaved as they have been for the past 22 years. All press reports were positive in favour of the Hells Angels MC who were just brilliant all weekend.
Even the bad weather coudn't deter the 20,000+ crowd from having fun. It did however put a dent in the track time but we made the best of our one run on Friday and Mr. Spokehead lifted it's front wheel in the air and blasted the quarter mile only dropping it back to earth after I took out both of the top-end timing blocks (sorry Bruno) which meant that our new wings, new fuel timers and new clutch were working just great!
I am counting the days to Bulldog 23...
Hammond returns - with a slingshot. 19th August:
Sam Freeman was driving Vic Hammond's recently imported slingshot, the picture taken by Eurodragster.com's reserve photographer Peter Donaldson at the Peak Performance day on 15th August.
Peter writes: Vic Hammond last raced in 1989, but its a difficult sport to stay away from, so Saturday's RWYB at Santa Pod
Raceway saw the debut of his latest ride. Imported from South Carolina, where it was raced by both Ed & Tammy Fargo (the first husband and wife to race each other in blown slingshots apparently) the Speed Demon is a beautifully crafted 200 inch WB slingshot. Power comes from a small block Chevy opened up to 370cu with a 6-71 sitting on top, and a Dave Tuttle chassis keeps the Methanol fueled car going in a straight line.
Some mods to the pedals are required for Vic to be comfortable in the car, so he asked Sam Freeman to do the initial shakedown runs on Saturday. The car ran regular 7.70's in the States and Sam's second run, an easy 8.88 @ 147 shows plenty of promise. As Vic says he and the team want to have some fun, talking of which the team includes, Mickey Moore, Cyril Hooper and Lee Kemble.So another welcome addition to the growing band of front engined dragsters in the UK and several more to come - let the good times roll.
Photo courtesy of Peter Donaldson.
Swift snippets. 19th August:
First up is a 21st birthday greeting. Martin Gleadow sends a very Happy Birthday to Adam Gleadow of Time Machine Racing,
who turns 21 on August 19th, from Bob, Darren, Martin, Tanya, Fredde and the rest of the team.
In response to the spy picture published on, the eagle-eyed Trevor and Esta Capewell have been in touch: "I recognise that engine and dry sump tank, I believe it now belongs to Bob Glassup with Xtreme Altered. Good luck to him this engine pushed me to 6.005 at 238mph which has not been beaten by any British Methanol Funny Car since."
Web site updates. 19th August:
Graphic Designer & Photographer Dirk Behlau of
Pixeleye has posted photos from last weekend's Nitrolympx at his web site.
Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer Lex Joon updated his exclusive Racer Blog from the track;
you can read Lex's Blog by clicking here or by clicking
on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. In addition, Top Fuel tuner
Eddie Corr was posting live updates on his new web site, which he has launched to promote his new motorsport consultancy
covering both drag racing and other forms of motorsport. You can check out Eddie's pitside updates on his new site at
www.eddiecorrracing.com.
Finally our good buddy Mathias Wienand posted end-day galleries from Hockenheim on his Sideview Inn site at
www.sideview-inn.de.
We will update our Acknowledgements list very shortly but we must say a big Thank You to UK Top Fuel Dragster racer
Andy
Carter and Andy's and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Lucas
Oil for their help in getting us connected this weekend, and thanks to Christine and Peter Calwer, Andrea Kloss, Gittli Koller
and Peter Schöfer Racing, Benni Voss, Markus Münch, Bob Brockmeyer, Rico Anthes and all of the race officials, staff and racers at
Hockenheim for helping us both before and during the race.
Pro ET aiming to party. 17th August: Our good friend Carla Pittau is calling all Pro ET drivers, crews, friends and families to participate in the Second Annual Pro ET Xmas Bash and Award Presentation, which will be held on 29th November 2008 at The Cromwell Hotel, March, Cambridgeshire.
The evening will include a buffet, a live band and disco as well as the Prize Giving Ceremony for the Pro ET 2008 Awards. All attending drivers will receive a 2008 Campaign Rosette.
This year numbers will be restricted to 100 - so book now to avoid disappointment.
Tickets cost £15 and they are available from Carl Burton in the Pro ET pits, or by post from the Pro ET Sponsorship Scheme.
The 2008 Awards include prizes for:
Rookie of the Year;
Best Crew Chief;
Best Appearing Car;
Hard Luck Award;
Best Wheelie;
Most ****-ups;
Furthest travelled; and
Most Spectacular Crash/Fire.
Voting is only allowed to bona fide Pro ET teams, three votes maximum per team. Voters can express their preference either on line via the link in the Pro ET Forum, or click here to directly access the voting page.
A leaflet with all details of the Bash, address and telephone number for the Cromwell Hotel and pen and paper voting form can be downloaded here.
Let's meet for an evening of pure unadulterated Pro ET fun.
No more stealth. 17th August: We received some photos labelled as spy pictures, but unless you've
been on Mars recently you will know that you will know that they are of Graham Ellis's Superbird which made its (and Graham's) successful debut in Pro Mod at the start of the season. Click on the small picture for a larger version from a different angle. Graham's next appearance will be at the Euro Finals where he will be competing against 26 other Pro Mods for a place in the field.
Topo hanging up his hat. 17th August: Tony Deluca (Topo) has had to call it a day crewing for John "Leadfoot" Everitt. He writes:
Unfortunately due to work commitments and a new business I have had to call it a day.
I have crewed for John for three years now and have learnt so much about car set up and all the rest of the things that go into making this sport what it is today.
Apart from the new business the main reason is to get my own car finished which is currently down in the workshop of a certain Mr Felstead. The car is nearing completion now so I need to concentrate on that and I just can't crew and build a car.
So a very big thank you to "Leadfoot" if not for him I would never have got this far with all the knowledge i have gained from him.
John is so dedicated it is untrue, and demands 100 per cent loyalty and commitment, but I have had an excellent time with him and the rest of the crew.
To all the Alien fans, John, as you know, is a great showman and ambassador to drag racing - he always tries to please the fans while still trying to win so give him and the rest of the crew big applause next time you see them run.
If you read this John then a very big thank you from me without your help the new car would not be possible.
Now the crew.
Chris, you're a star and it has been my pleasure to have worked with you and the knowledge you have given me.
Keith, well probbaly the most laid back person I know and a good mate (look after Kim for me).
Kirstie, well you all know Kirstie Tramm the most dedicated female to drag racing ever.
And lastly young Billy Everitt good luck with the junior and everyone watch out for this young lad in the future he comes from a good pedigree.
To all the racers, including
Rick Cooke, Nigel Turner, Ian Tubb, Ashley Bell, and all at Paul Marston Racing and anyone else I've forgotten, good luck and be safe, I will be turnning up at the odd meeting or two so see you then.
I am hoping to have the new car for the Flame and Thunder Show so might even get to pair up with a certain "Leadfoot".
Split Decision breaks cover. 17th August:
If you saw the spy picture on 13th August, the constructor of the Split Decision Ford 100E Paul Shaw has kindly sent some further information after finding that his son sent us the pictures of the car, which is going into Pro ET and is due to make its initial runs this weekend:
The car has been built by myself and life long friend and driver Chris Bishop. It has been a 24 month project, funded by Chris and completely home built in a small garage behind his house. It has a full tube chassis/cage, four link rear end, nine inch Ford rear end with strut front end and is powered by a 360 cu in Chrysler engine built by myself through a B&M Holeshot convertor and 727 TCI-built Torqueflite trans. Both Chris and myself would like to give a big thank you to John at Armour Engineering, Dave Eady's Autoparts, Ian Marshall at Webster Race Engineering and Rushden Graphics for all their help over the past two years. We are looking forward to now having a lot of fun in Pro ET.
After the wet weekend at Gardermoen we are looking forward to the Hockenheim weekend. We were sorry for Siw Nystad that she couldn't race at
Gardermoen due to the bad weather. For Lorenz Stäble it was a really fustrating weekend in Norway as well. To be top qualifier and then not be
able to race was a shame. Let's hope that the weather is better and that we see some decent racing. The NitrolympX is an FIA round for the
Top Fuel Dragster and a fun race for the Supertwin, but the goals are the same.
For Urs it will be difficult to focus on the race one hundre per cent as we have some many friends, sponsors and fans visiting us at the
Hockenheim pit. So Urs will be quite busy talking to his fans, signing hero cards and talking to all the people who are so important to us.
Sascha "Breth" Brodbeck will be at the start line with the Harley Davidson Destroyer. He is only racing at Hockenheim as he had neither the time nor
the budget to run the whole Championship. But I am sure that the reigning champ will play an important role again this weekend. He is hungry to go
racing and show everybody that he is still the man to beat.
The truck is already at the track. The Erbacher pit is covering a good part of the start/finish line area with extra space for sponsors, friends and a
special exhibition of the custom bikes built by Lo, Urs and their mechanics. There is a great atmosphere in the pits and hopefully there will be
a lot of cheering and a bit of celebration on Sunday evening.
Bullseye! 14th August: This happy chappie is Jan, team member of Robert Joosten's
Pro Dutch Pro Mod team who took the win
and the FIA European Championship lead at the Veidec Festival. Robert tells us that although Jan
is still walking around with the grin on his face and although the win will last for a long time,
the team have had to crack on with some work on the blown-alcohol 'Vette to make it ready for this
weekend's NitrolympX at Hockenheim.
Robert adds that his Championship lead has given this weekend's race a new aspect. "It feels a a little strange to walk around with a
bullseye on our back", he says. "But hey, there are worse things to think of. I wish everybody a safe trip, and good racing."
Two Eagles flying in Germany. 14th August: Finland's Eagle Racing
have announced that they will field two Top Fuel Dragsters for the rest of the 2008 season. "Finnish Dynamite"
Janne Ahonen and Risto "Bad To The Bone" Poutiainen will contest this weekend's NitrolympX at Hockenheim and
the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway in September.
"This decision was made right after the Veidec Festival", says the Eagle Racing Press Office. "It's fast moves which count, and Eagle Racing was
in Norway right after Mantorp. It was too bad that the event was rained out so Risto was not seen in action. But the team is now ready to race
in Hockenheim.
"Risto is twice NitrolympX Champion, and Janne is a Hockenheim rookie - although he was there with Jari Halinen
last year, just not in the dragster. Both are ready to race and we are flying to Germany on Thursday
morning. A little after 8:00 in the morning and the Eagle has landed..."
"The Saturday night session will not count as a qualifying run but nevertheless I'm really looking forward to making that pass in an atmosphere which
is so special - all the people in the grandstands, the fireworks, the flames from the headers going over the rear spoiler, yes that's awesome. Let's
hope that it's a good one, just like all the others!"
The Svenssons take the lot. 14th August: Peter and Sören Svensson of Sweden's Kendall Racing Top Fuel Bike team swept
all before them at the Veidec Festival, qualifying number one and taking the event title and European and track
records:
"We came to Mantorp Park with a new fuel system set-up and it turned out to be just about what the tricky
track surface of the track could handle", say Peter and Sören. "On our first qualifying run on Friday
we ran below the European record (previously held by Ian King) and we continued to improve upon both
ET and Speed several times during the weekend, resulting in new European eighth-mile records of 4.06/303 kmh
and a new track record of 306 kmh.
"One thing we are very satisfied with is that all of our runs during the weekend were within 0.08 seconds
despite a partly new track surface. That must be some kind of record in Top Fuel Bike.
"With our new sponsor Kendall (supplied by Sollebrunns
Oljeservice and more or less all of the family members of our team at Mantorp Park we had really good back
up. Everyone helped our team with all the support we could possibly ask for!
"To summarise the weekend we were number one qualifier, winner of Top Fuel Bike, set new European records of
4.06/303, a new eighth mile track record of 306 kmh and we are now third in the European Championship, having
participated in only one of three races in the series so far.
"Special thanks to our sponsors for supplying the very best product available:
Andersson aims for sixes. 14th August: Swedish Funny Bike racer Mikael Andersson says that the 5xM Drag Bike Team
have had an unbelievable season in 2008.
"We have a lot of new parts on the bike and we have already run several Personal Bests", says Mikael. "Our bests are now
1.14 seconds over sixty feet, 4.63/258 kmh over the eighth mile, and 7.26/293 over the quarter mile. We have one race left this
year and that is the Winternationals, the TSDS finals at Meca Raceway.
"We are already working for next year, when we hope to run our first six-second pass, and our first pass over 300 kmh, and we think we can do it.
We are also building a new bike for next season which our Crew Chief Marcus is going to run in Super Gas Bike.
"A big thank you to our sponsors Haldex, Ericssons Custom,
Eurol.se, F1 Text & Dekor, Karling Fasad AB, EBOS, High Performance,
GT Mekaniska, Harrys Bil & Motor, Husbilen.nu,
CM-Racing.se, Addemoto, Firma Kenneth Björk, and Asmundtorps Kakel & Bygg.
"For more information about the bike, team, pictures and much more take a look at our web site at
www.5xM-dragbiketeam.tk."
Swift snippets. 14th August: ACU UK Drag Bike Championship, 9.50 Bike, National Association of Supertwin, and
8.50 Bike racers are reminded that Friday of next week, 22nd August, is the closing date for entry
to the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway on 13th-14th September, which is a
Championship round for these classes with the exception of Top Fuel Bike, and a demonstration round for
8.50 Bike. Entry after Friday of next week, if accepted, will be subject to a 100% late entry fee. You can download
entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at
www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
German Pro Mod racer, Eurodragster.com News sponsor and
Exhaust-coating.de Pro Mod
Challenge sponsor Marco Maurischat has confirmed that his new blown-alcohol Pro Mod
is ready and that he will be attending this weekend's NitrolympX at Hockenheim.
Carla Pittau and Rick McCann of the UK's Team Heaven & Hell Pro ET team have been in touch to wish Brainless Raceway Park
Owner, Promoter, Race Director and Organiser (and official supplier of sloppy kisses to Eurodragster.com - Ed)Tracy Morgan Doyle
a very happy birthday - "Mainly as sucking up to the Promoter might bring in favours to our team at the next Slot Drags at the celebrated European
Slot Raceway, the only covered race track in Europe and perhaps the world", say Carla and Rick. Here at
Eurodragster.com we disagree, as most tracks in Europe are covered...covered in bloody rain. But that's a minor quibble.
You have a great day Tracy.
We love it when this happens...yesterday's spy picture has spawned another. We got absolutely
no information with this picture so we'll have to go on what we can see which is a blown altered
sharing digs with a dragster. If you know any more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture,
then drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
Jerry Cookson of Shakespeare County Raceway would like to get in touch with Paul Manders of
1970s Time and Motion Funny Car fame. If you're reading this, Paul, or if anyone has Paul's contact
details, then please get in touch with Jerry at
quartermilenewsmakers@yahoo.co.uk.
Dan Welberry of Eurodragster.com News sponsor 3t
Creative has asked us to say a big Thank You to everyone for their support of What is Love?, the
new single by the band Audio1, in which Dan plays. Dan tells us that the launch party was a sell-out, that a
video is now available at
www.myspace.com/audio1music, and that the
single is now on sale. More details on our news update of
4th August.
What's on this weekend. 14th August: The headline-grabber this weekend is the NitrolympX at Hockenheim in Germany
which features the penultimate round of the FIA European Championshops for Top Fuel Dragster, Top Methanol Dragster,
Top Methanol FC and Pro Modified as well as Fuel Funny Car, Nitro and Pro Bike shootouts, Sportsman classes, Public
Race and the legendary Night Show on Saturday evening. You can find out more on the event's official web site
at www.nitrolympx.de.
If you can't make the NitrolympX then Eurodragster.com will be reporting live from Hockenheim in association
with American Car Imports. The plan is for
the usual frequently-updated reports on the on-track action together with end-day on-track and off-track galleries;
no pit notes since we are very light-handed this weekend. The on-track galleries will be kindly provided by Markus
Münch as Roger is unable to attend. The the Webster
Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam will be on-line and
will be scheduled to post a picture every sixty seconds. 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 the Event Index page by
clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage
link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting the Nitrolympx.
The Eurodragster.com FAQ contains the answers to all the questions you are likely to ask about our
Event Coverage. If you want to know how we do it, why we do it, and what to do if you want to tell us what
you think of it then you can check out the FAQ by clicking here or by
clicking on the Eurodragster.com FAQ link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Kunmadaras, Hungary hosts the SHOX-HONDA Extreme Weekend promoted by Kunmadaras Motorsport. This includes the Motorport Cup, AGV
Streetfighter and details can be found at
www.kunmadarasmotorsport.hu/jsite/index.php/events/race4.
On Sunday Santa Pod Raceway hosts Mini In The Park
which includes hundreds of Club cars, a Mini-specific trade area, sprint action, and a new improved concours. Action is on Sunday
with a Run What You Brung on Saturday. Don't forget that there is a Peak
Performance Test and Tune Day at Santa Pod tomorrow (Friday).
NitrolympX Perfect Awards. 14th August: A grand total of €140 is up for grabs from Eurodragster.com, Speedflow and Gold RV
at this weekend's NitrolympX at Hockenheim, the latest event in the Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards scheme.
This weekend's Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award has been reset to
€70 after it was won by Junior Dragster racer Pontus Dantanus at the Veidec Festival. The money will be
presented to the first racer next weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award
is available to all racers in all classes during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for
the first perfect light of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £75
for the Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway; if it is won then it will be
reset to £50 for the Open Sport Nationals. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association
with performance hose and fitting manufacturer Speedflow, whose web site you can find at
www.speedflow.co.uk.
To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers will be required to carry decals, one on each side of the vehicle whether
car or bike. The decals are available at signing-on but please note that, as is usual with contingency schemes, racers are responsible
for requesting or picking up decals when signing on. A list of required decals per class is always on display in signing-on.
UK photo-journalist has updated his Fotopic gallery with pictures from June's SPRC Summernationals
at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Dick's shots at
dickparnham.fotopic.net.
Only in drag racing... 13th August: German Top Methanol Dragster team
Peter Schöfer Racing had a good weekend at the Veidec
Festival at Mantorp Park. The car ran consistent low 5.5s and the team were happy to take runner-up spot and
retain their Championship lead. Team member Gittli Koller says that things went wrong right at the end of the
weekend leaving the PSR crew with a thrash to get the car ready for this week's NitrolympX at Hockenheim. That
was easier said that done since a major part had to be located first, and it was only through the help and
generosity of two American friends that PSR will be racing this weekend.
"The bang everybody heard was not just the burst plate", says Gittli. "It took with it the manifold, which had been on the
car since our first run with the Hemi in 2002. That was real strange for us and we had to hurry to get a new one from the USA.
Unfortunately these manifolds are not just sitting on the shelf waiting for some Germans to pick up. We were told that it would
take longer to get a new manifold than the time between the two rounds.
"Luckily we have some very good friends in the States, and we called round. But our friends didn't have a manifold either.
Finally our friend Norm Grimes contacted a friend of his, Chelsea Clark, who didn't hesitate to send his brand new manifold
to us. We never met Chelsea before and he sent us his manifold just like that. That only happens in drag racing, that's for
sure. Thank you very much Chelsea.
"Now the guys are working until the middle of the night every single to get the car ready. We found some smaller issues
on the car and the guys will have fixed everything for the NitrolympX.
"Of course we are very happy that Hockenheim is back on the FIA calendar. It is great to have another FIA round although
it is unfortunate that there are no Pro Stocks, and it is great for us because it is in Germany. At this point we want to thank
everybody who was involved to make that happen. To everyone who will be there for the first time: wait until you hear the
crowd on Saturday...
"We would like to thank our sponsors who have supported us all year and especially when we needed some extra parts:
Sunoco, Weindel US Parts, Mipa, JE Pistons, Normstahl, MoTec, Norfolkline, Uvex, Calwer G&D, Keyr ODM, Dirsch, HR,
Zehetbauer, Schneider and The Friends of PSR."
Germany's real fastest brothers. 13th August: Germany's Team Werner Habermann Racing has had quite an impressive year so far, and there is more
to come writes Mathias Wienand. The season started with a new chassis and an all-new engine combination for the team, as they got a new car from the
USA. Timo Habermann took the seat in the new race car while Dennis took over Timo's old car. Timo's goal with an all-new set up was to run consistent
5.6 and maybe high 5.5s.
Testing should have taken place at the Easter Thunderball, but as we all know a Snowmobile would have been the better choice for that weekend.
On the Monday the season started with a huge eye-opener for everybody in Top Methanol, not only in Europe but worldwide. In freezing cold
conditions Timo set a new sixty foot world record by whipping out a 0.863. And the heat was on!
The Main Event started with a big impression on the competition as Timo qualified second off the trailer with a 5.61. Dennis ran his car in
Competition Eliminator and also was second after qualifying with a 7.01. The rain washed away the team's wish to prove that this wasn't
just one good run for both, as the event rained out. But there was one more trophy to take home from the FIA Main Event as Timo set a
new European record for cars running a Whipple blower.
In Alastaro Timo took over the competition, qualifying in number one spot with a 5.56. Dennis, this time running his car in Top Methanol,
was in eighth spot with a new Personal Best of 6.4. The brothers faced each other in round one and Timo took the win 5.6 against Dennis'
6.4. There was a bit of drag racing history in the final as Timo was up against German legend Peter Schöfer. Timo was in front until
330 feet and then the blower came off due to a spark plug and Peter storming by.
The team showed that their shot at the Championship was serious when both brothers qualified third at Mantorp Park - Timo in
TMD and Dennis running a 6.77 in Comp Eliminator again leaving forty three other competitors behind. After beating Paul Ingar Udtian in
round one Timo paired up against Peter Sch&oum;fer once again. And again he was only stoped by a mechanical malfunction, this time the
burst panel went in the burnout.
So Timo is third in the Championship at the moment, with Hockenheim and the Finals at Santa Pod left. The point standings are as close
as the Top Methanol competition this year as Timo only is twenty two points behind Rob Turner in second place and forty four points behind
points leader Peter Schöfer.
Team Werner Habermann Racing is led by proud father and German drag racing pioneer Werner Habermann who is looking forward to
racing at their home track in Hockenheim. Germany's fastest brothers - who were these Schumacher guys again? - grew up here and grew
into the sport. Timo has been racing here for sixteen years now, younger brother Dennis for eleven years. Remember that the brothers are
only nineteen and twenty four years of age!
The whole team were at last weekend's Thunder Drome, a Test and Tune Event for the NitrolympX, helping out fellow German racer
Armin Schmid who bought the Habermanns' former Competition dragster. Not a bad start for Armin in his début season with
this blown alcohol dragster as supported by Team Werner Habermann Racing he took giant steps running 1.11 to sixty feet and
7.44 over the quarter mile, his first seven. Impressive, with only a few passes in his young drag racing career, and you can tell how
happy the Habermann boys were watching Armin's progress when they raised their fists in the air and yelled after every successful pass.
After last weekend Timo says that the track looks really good and that the goal is to put some good numbers on the board again, maybe
a first 5.4. That would put Timo in a position to set a new World Record for Whipple blower cars, which is currently held by US racer
Darrell Russell at 5.48. So keep an eye on Eurodragster.com's live report if you cannot be there yourself!
Friends and family will be at Hockenheim and Team Habermann hope that they will witness Timo reaching after number two spot or
maybe number one in the Championship.
The Islanders are excited to visit the Hockenheim race for the first time. Thanks to the rest of our sponsors Lerøly Midnor, Eidsvaag AS,
Teng Tools, Frøya Sjøservice, Frøys Varmeservice, Seashell AS, DecorCut who make this possible. I think that only
two of our crew who have been there before, so we will do our very best to have some thrilling tight racing and put on a show.
To make travel to Santa Pod easier we received a nice offer from the Habermann family to store the coach at their facility in Germany
between races. This really is making life easier for the Islanders as the trip to Hockenheim is 1400 km and a long ferry journey each way.
At Santa Pod we are expecting visitors from our main sponsor Q8 Oils both from Sweden and United Kingdom, as well as from
Sande Gård AS and other local sponsors.
Has anyone seen my family? 13th August: Sweden's Mats Eriksson and the Green Goblin Pro Modified team
have been hard at work since the Veidec Festival at Mantorp Park repairing the rear end housing, changing the
struts and servicing the engine. Mats' wife Lena Perés says that she thinks that the Green Goblin will be very happy to go to
Hockenheim.
"Mats is hoping for good traction and times as he had at Mantorp. We have heard that the track is smooth and straight, so we're expecting
fast racing and good times at Hockenheim as well."
As mentioned on yesterday's news update, the team have also found time to secure Ludvig Perés' NDRS Junior Dragster Championship for
2008. "We had a thrilling weekend at the Linde Open", says Lena. "The racing is very good when these kids hit the track, and the sportsmanship
is very good too. On Saturday night all the Junior racers and families had a crayfish party together."
Here come the Bad Luck Boys. 13th August: Sweden's Ulf 'Totte' Lindquist and the Bad Luck Boys Racing Team are shaping up for an assault on
Comp Eliminator in 2009 with their Small Block Chevy-powered Topolino. Ulf has already tested the car and tells us that he has one test session
left this season, his twentieth in drag racing:
I've been involved in racing since my début in 1988 at Mantorp Park, which was in a self-built Volvo 121 and a small two litre engine
with no overcharge whatsoever. After two years I moved on to a totally restored and rebuilt 1973 Camaro with a small block and Nitrous.
In the need for more speed it was sold and a 1968 Camaro RS was bought as a rolling chassis. A Chevy 454 ci was built and we raced
for about five years with this. I ran a 10.91 as a low ET record and Personal Best.
I wanted a blown engine of course but we're a small team, two guys and my girlfriend Jenny Ahlund, and felt that it would be
too much to keep up with if we went blown-alky immediately. Therefore I bought an ex-Pro Stock engine, not the easiest way to go
but they are real raw engines I think. This one was first built by Skinne in Norway then refreshed by MMR and Adam Flamholc. It's
an up to date engine and not old and worn out like many old engines after year and year in a Pro Stock chassis.
Last week we did our first test event. Of course this year will be all about testing and getting friendly with the combination. We did
three great runs and took it really slow and step by step. Ex-Pro Stock Champion Bo Hulten, now Roger Johansson's Pro Mod mechanic
who is also my neighbour, told me to keep it under power for about three hundred feet, and if I felt OK with it, half track and no more. We
stuck to half track for each of the three runs and we are all very pleased now. This resulted in a slow 1.72 at sixty feet, 6.44/180kmh
half track and 10.27/193 with an idle launch, shifting at 7000 rpm and not doing anything to hurt the engine.
This weekend we went to a small event at a local track called Moholmsstrippen. It's a quarter mile track but non-prepared asphalt, but
we hoped to do some nice nine-second runs and even get more prepared for the Winternationals at Meca Raceway in September.
We had hoped to stall and launch at 6000 rpm and get it shift in the high eights, but unfortunately we saw rain, rain and rain.
We will take a break now and power up for the Winternationals as our last test event this year. That's the weekend after I
my annual visit to the European Finals at Santa Pod.
The team is really looking forward to the year 2009, we know we are going to make some noise!
You can find out all about Ulf's Topolino, and check out some excellent on-board video footage, on the
team's official web site at www.smokingtire.se.
UK Northern Nationals review. 13th August: York Raceway hosted its biggest event of the year, the UK Northern Nationals,
on 2nd-3rd August. With two rounds of American Super Stock, a round in each of the PDRC Northern Drag Racing Championships, the 31st
Street Racer Championship, as well as the Wild Bunch and Super Charged Outlaws, it was certainly an action packed weekend writes Richard
Smith:
Despite the poor forecast, the majority of the threatening clouds passed by in the distance with only a couple of brief showers halting proceedings,
which gave a good opportunity to give PDRC's new track sweeper a whirl!
The sixth round of American Super Stock on Saturday saw some of the tightest qualifying yet, with the top fourteen within a tenth of their dial-ins
and Chris Novak taking pole being only +0.0002 off! All eyes were on the top three in points: Dave Billadeau, Lee Chiles and Dan Houlston. Lee's
Dakota was the first to fall when he red lit in the quarter finals, while Dave's GTX and Dan's Camaro raced through to the final. Having won the last
two events thanks to a red lighting opponent, Dan was really pushing for another win. He sadly pushed that little too hard off the line, leaving a
cherry and giving Dave, who ran 10.08 on a 10.04, another round win and further strengthening his points lead.
The next day, twenty six cars entered round seven with Ashley Rawson's GTX heading the qualifying list, +0.001 off his dial-in. In eliminations, round two
produced a big match up - Dan Houlston v Lee Chiles. A good clean race saw Dan eliminated and Lee pressing on to reclaim his second position in the
points standings, while Dave Billadeau's day ended in the quarters to number one man Ashley. Come the final it was Lee Chiles facing up against Andy
Reynold's Rodzilla Chevelle, and in the first final not decided by a foul in a long time, Lee's 14.93 on a 14.92 beat Andy's 11.87 on a 11.82.
With only one more round to go Dave's top spot looks pretty safe but you can be sure everyone will be racing hard till the very end! Here's how the top five
looks:
Special mention must go the the Wild Bunch and the Supercharged Outlaws for a great show, with some huge wheelies from Chris Hartnell's
Backdraft slingshot and the massive smoky burnouts by Mark Flavell's Funny Car and Lee Gallimore's altered! Hope to see these guys back
at York next year.
Next up for York Raceway is the huge RWYB weekend for Jap tuners, GTis and Pugs and the postponed Mini v Beetle Shootout across the
24th-25th August Bank Holiday weekend. Then it's on to the UK Northern Finals on the 21st September. Be sure to check out
www.york-raceway.co.uk/events.html for full details.
Rotorstock 5 results. 12th August: The third round of the HKS Drag Series took place at Rotorstock 5 at Santa Pod Raceway
on Sunday. Congratulations to the winners:
FWD: Guy Chamberlain, Honda Civic Type R 10.289/143.82 def. Douggie Gemmell, Honda Civic Type R 12.185/116.69
Street: Johnny Mckeon, Nissan Skyline GTR R32 9.954/139.83 def. Gary Passingham, Nissan Skyline GTR R33 10.523/129.84
Also of note was Leon Green's splendid new Toyota Supra (right), fresh from the garages of Webster Race Engineering and constructed from
scratch to be more than capable of taking on the likes of Steve Whittaker. The car made just a few check-out passes, but looks more
than capable of being the next Jap car to be writing the headlines.
You can find a full report, pictures and points standings on the event's official web site at
www.japdragseries.co.uk.
Swift snippets. 12th August: Shakespeare County Raceway have a further six opportunities for individuals and companies to get
involved at the Open Sport Nationals with the Best Of series of trophies. "The Best Of Awards consist of Best Appearing Car and Bike,
Best Appearing Car and Bike Crew, and Best Engineered Car and Bike", says SCR's Jerry Cookson. "The Awards will be judged during qualifying
days by members of the Race Control, commentary and scrutineering teams, and will be awarded before eliminations on Bank Holiday Monday".
Each trophy is available to be sponsored for £30 and will be a shield with a plaque including the sponsor's name.
To register your interest please give Jerry a call on 01789 720180 or E-Mail
enquiries@shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk.
Congratulations to Halvor Överby (Super Street), Ludvig Perés (Junior Dragster) and Jonas Sundström
(Super Comp Bike) who have taken the first titles in the 2008 Nordic Drag Racing Series. You can find out more including
the current points standings and remaining NDRS dates on the Svensk Dragracing web site at
www.dragracing.se.
Anders Magnusson of Leif Andréasson's Top Methanol FC team tells us that Leif's
rear end-heavy FC should suit the track at this weekend's NitrolympX at Hockenheim. "We know that the Leanders Brothers
are in the zone right now, but we can keep up running the same pace, and if we get the margins on our side next time we can defeat them",
says Anders. "We know that they are far ahead in the points, but we are not going to give it up and the Leanders as well as the other teams
must do their very best if they are going to race us."
Malta Drag Racing Association Secretary
Jason Camilleri tells us that the MDRA are looking forward to welcoming the UK's Old Skool Ford
racers to Hal-Far Raceway for next week's Night Event. "These guys were in Malta for our first and second event,
but this time they will be racing with us - good luck guys!", says Jason. "This year we have Mark Pointer and Pete Ashworth competing with
us and they have been great. We will also have the Borg Brothers Racing Team with their Top Methanol Dragster and the best Cosworth-powered
Escorts in Europe and incredible ETs from our specialised four-cylinder engines. All are welcome, for more info please E-Mail me at
mdra@maltanet.net.
Lucas Oil USA-backed Pro Mod driver and German record holder
Norbert Kuno had a lot of problems getting the power to the ground at Mantorp Park. "The
chassis had problems transferring the power and we didn't have the right set-up to go fast", says
Norbert. "It was possible, because other teams did it. For Hockenheim we have worked out a new
concept, working on the chassis and on the engine, and we will see if we go fast or slow."
Congratulations to Norbert's fellow German Pro Mod racer Jürgen Schomann on his first
six-second pass, a 6.9/326 kmh at the Thunder Drome pre-NitrolympX event at Hockenheim at the weekend.
Our good buddy Benni Voss also tells us that Funny Bike racer Chris Jaeger clocked a new PB of 7.6/290.
Theo Hürlimann adds that Swiss Pro Mod racer Rolf Ammann's testing at Hockenheim at the weekend
went well. "The track was only prepared for eighty metres but it was good enough for us to find out that the car goes straight now and
we had an OK sixty-foot time of 1.12", says Theo. "We are looking forward to racing in Hockenheim this weekend and especially to coming
back to Santa Pod for the European Finals."
Eurodragster.com News sponsor Nitrous Oxide Supplies have changed their logo.
For details of Nitrous products and services on offer check out Nitrous Oxide Supplies'
web site at www.nitrousoxidesupplies.co.uk.
UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter plans to post live updates from the Lucas Oil / Landmeco
pit during this weekend's Nitrolympx at Hockenheim. You will be able to get the inside track from
Carter Motorsport at www.andycarter.net.
UK blown-alcohol altered team Bennett Racing have announced sponsorship from Goodridge Hoses and Fittings
for the rest of 2008 and the entire 2009 season. "Goodridge are the world's leading manufacturer of high-performance fluid
transfer systems, driving the top race cars, performance road cars and motorcycles across the globe", says Luke Bennett. "Goodridge products cover
all fluid transfer needs including hydraulic brake and clutch lines, and lightweight hoses for fuel, oil cooler, gearbox and water systems". More
details at www.bennettracing.co.uk.
We have a couple of birthdays today. First up, Heide and Dan Page have asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to
reigning UK National Super Gas Champion Jon Morton. Happy Birthday also to Jon Crawford. Have a great day
guys.
King Racing press release. 12th August: Following King Racing's win on the
Portable Shade Top Fuel Bike at the first stop of the so called 'Nordic Swing' at Alastaro in Finland, the team travelled to the back to back second
and third stops at Mantorp Park in Sweden and Gardermoen in Norway with high hopes.
However, their optimism was short lived when they experienced the extremes of weather conditions at each event that put a large dent in their
hope of retaining their Championship crown.
Although the Swedish event is one of the most eagerly awaited by racers and the 40,000 fans alike, the tricky bumpy track and eighth mile
race distance leaves many a Crew Chief scratching their heads in their quest for an optimised set-up. And this year the stiflingly hot conditions
turned the event into somewhat of a lottery for many and the final qualifying sheets were testament to that fact.
The team was not immune from the same problems facing the other riders and struggled to find a clutch setting to match that of the previous race.
Despite that fact the team finished on the 'right' side of the ladder in fourth position at the end of final qualifying.
Their first round was a nail biting affair with Norway's Sverre Dahl making a welcome return to the series with his all new Bentec timed clutch and big
sprag gearbox. King cut a good light on Dahl that proved to be decisive as he crossed the line at an achingly close 0.0071 seconds ahead .
However, the semi-finals were to prove the limits of King's good reactions and less than optimal clutch settings when local hero Peter Svensson on his
'Mountain Motor' 1700cc billet machine blasted past King in the early part of the race, and the half race distance proved too short for King to make any headway.
The team's miseries were compounded when France's Eric Teboul failed to make his semi-final round against Championship leader Rikard Gustafsson of Sweden
after suffering supercharger problems allowing the local rider to take a solo run into the final and build a further ten point advantage on the King Racing team.
However, Gustafsson was unable to build any further points advantage on King when he failed to overcome the record breaking performance of the Kendall Oils
backed Peter Svensson in the final.
With less than three days between the previous event and the race in Norway to plan their challenge to Rikard Gustafsson's Championship lead the team
had little time to make large changes to their clutch set-up but were confident that two further days and five planned qualifying runs would ensure that
they would be back on track.
The first day of qualifying saw the team make steady progress and ease quickly into fourth qualifying position in similar hot and sticky conditions to those
experienced in Sweden. Gustafsson, however, had some problems with his mid track performance and finished the first day on the bump spot.
But the second and final day of qualifying saw the weather turn to that experienced at the first round of the Championship at Santa Pod when the team
failed to qualify, wet and windy and not one of the Championship machines turned a wheel in anger.
Although disappointing to the team that they were unable to make further progress in their quest for more personal bests, the resulting ladder saw King
paired against rookie Kai Selkaama of Finland on the ex-Norbert Kutzera machine and Gustaffson with the unenviable task of taking on number one qualifier
Eric Teboul who had run an astounding 6.2 second pass in qualifying – in second gear only! The team saw their chance to claw back further points from
Gustafsson other than those from their superior qualifying position but it was not to be with the third and final day a repeat of the previous. The event
was called to a halt by the Race Director without a pass having been made in the Championship. When the announcement was made the Gustafsson
camp were all smiles, those in the King camp grimaced...
So, with the next two races in Germany and Denmark non-Championship events the Championship goes down to the wire in the final round at Santa Pod
in England with Gustafsson a comfortable twelve points ahead of King. Can the team pull off a repeat of their stunning 'against all odds' win at the same
event last year? The team and their fans wait with bated breath.
The team rely on only the best parts and services from leading companies in their chosen markets:
Firstly Paul Marston Racing are very sorry to have parted ways with Gary Springford and
Drag Race Engineering as marketing partners and business associates. Both Paul Marston Racing
and Drag Race Engineering have enjoyed a fair share of success and PMR wishes DRE every success
in any future projects.
Steve Bolton also has hung up his racing boots for the 2008 season, citing business pressures
as the main reason. Steve's company is just so busy that he is finding it nearly impossible
to justify the time off. Steve is also unlikely to return to UK National Championship drag
racing under the Paul Marston Racing banner. So again everyone at Paul Marston Racing wishes
Steve every success when he returns, hopefully in 2009. Steve also wants to make it clear
that his decision to quit was not because the Crew Chief made him do the washing up!
Steve and the Dark Destroyer Plymouth Scamp will be sorely missed in Pro ET and at the track.
The positive side of this is that it leaves space in the Paul Marston Racing team to bring on
and develop some new drivers from the Drag Race Driving School into the National event team.
Talking of which Paul Marston Racing's Drag Race Driving School is looking forward to a very
busy month with a fair number of drivers going through the class.
Paul Marston Racing are very pleased to see the welcome return to of our American representative
ex-Pat Tony Morris, who flies into Hockenheim next weekend for the NitrolympX and will be attending the
Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway over the August Bank Holiday before familiarising himself
with Spencer Tramm's Super Pro ET Corrado which he will be racing at the European Finals.
Everyone wishes Tony the very best of luck in Spencer's Corrado, having reached the final of Super Gas with
the PMR Whoopass Monza at the Main Event in 2006 I would suspect that Tony would be aiming at the same kind
of result - no pressure then Tony!
Hockenheim traffic warning. 10th August: Many thanks to Heike Schroeder for passing on some very important news for
those going to Hockenheim for this week's NitrolympX:
Diversion 2: from the A5, change to A6 direction Mannheim at Dreieck Walldorf. After approximately 7 km exit at Dreieck Hockenheim
in the direction of the Hockenheimring.
Amman returns. 10th August: Swiss Pro Mod racer
Rolf Ammann is making a return to the track
in time for next weekend's NitrolympX at Hockenheim. Rolf was last seen sideswiping the guardrail at
last year's FIA European Finals but Theo Hürlimann tells us that the Blown Nugget is
back in one piece after a titanic effort.
Swift snippets. 10th August:21:50 Congratulations to Steve Whittaker
who wiped out the previous European bests for a Jap car and smashed into the sevens with a 7.781/174.93 and 7.904/173.69 with his Toyota Supra
Mk3 at Rotorstock at Santa Pod today. Rick Cuthbert of Santa Pod Raceway tells us that he will post a report tomorrow.
In a story neatly drawing together two Eurodragster.com News sponsors, T-Shirt
and apparel manufacturer tireshake.com has released two new T-Shirts. The first shirt (right)
is for the Leanders Brothers Top Methanol FC team, and the other is the new tireshake.com shirt.
You can find out more and check out tireshake.com's unique range of shirts and other apparel
by expanding the New! link at www.tireshake.com.
K&H Racing press release. 10th August: Many thanks to Henriette Selles for sending us an English translation of
Thursday's press release from Dutch Pro Mod team K&H
Racing:
Marc Meihuizen has pulled off his best ever placing at Mantorp Park during the third race of the FIA Pro Modified Championship.
In this very competitive field the driver of K&H Racing made it to the final and ended up as runner-up. With this outcome Meihuizen
also secured second place in the Swedish Championship and took the number three spot so far in the FIA European Championship, only
one point away from Mikael Lindahl. On his way to the final he beat that same Lindahl and in the meantime clocked two personal bests:
a 6.180 and 369.39 km/h.
"The run against Micke was the absolute run for me, off the line next to each other towards the finish and than beating the European
record holder, fantastic" says a more than content Marc Meihuizen.
Since the introduction of the FIA European Pro Modified Championship in 2005, the Scandinavians have been ruling the game with an English victory
every now and then. In the lion's den Marc Meihuizen showed himself to be a real threat when he put some Swedish favourites on the trailer. And that
in a field of twenty four, the best-filled class with at least ten serious contenders, and the most competitive class in the FIA European Championships.
The final was against the only other Dutch contender, Robert Joosten, which made it clear that no matter what the outcome, a first Dutch Pro Mod
victory was a sure thing. They left at almost at the same time when the light went green, and both of them had tyre shake. After about 200 metres
the curtain fell for Marc Meihuizen when the motor died on him and he had to see the other car going away from him.
No disappointment though: runner up, the best classification ever in a FIA European Championship, runner up in the Swedish Championship, two
Personal Bests and almost the fastest driver of the weekend.
Meihuizen looks back at a great race: "The run against Lindahl was an absolute highlight for me. Right next to each other and then to win with
such a small difference. Mikael was jumping up and down despite his defeat, that's how great a run like that is."
The next FIA European Championship race will be the Nitrolympx at Hockenheim on 15th-17th August. On the German Grand Prix circuit
K&H Racing will try to finally get to the number one spot. Before then some work awaits the team. Crew Chief Joeri Woudenberg says "We
have a nasty electronic problem. During two out of four qualifying runs the motor died at about 300 metres. At first we thought it was the ignition.
MSD checked it for us and gave us a solution. Then it happened again; and concluded it must have been something else in the car. The problem
presented itself again during the run against Norbret Kuno, but fortunately the head start was good enough. During the finals it happened again,
leaving Marc without a chance. Very annoying indeed. Maybe it has to do with the enormous tyre shake Marc suffered at Alastaro. We will
turn the car inside out and hope to get this ghost out of the machine."
A Grandstand bonus. 10th August: Amid all the excitement surrounding next month's FIA European Finals at Santa Pod,
Drag Racing USA guests of Eurodragster.com News sponsor
Grandstand Motor Sports will have
something extra to anticipate. A Special Prize Draw will be made to determine which of them wins a day
at the races with Don Schumacher Racing when they travel to NHRA's Las Vegas and Pomona events later
this year. Guests who book in time will automatically be entered in the draw and a winner will be drawn for
each NHRA event.
Grandstand is delighted to welcome guests from the UK, Europe and worldwide. For more information on the Drag Racing USA
programme, please telephone 0845 375 0300 (from abroad: +44 116 231 1222), visit
www.grandstandmotorsports.co.uk, or
simply click the Grandstand logo at right.
Web site updates. 10th August: Our good buddy Patrik Jacobsson has updated the Racebilder site with
pictures from the Power Street Finals at Malmö's Meca Raceway. Check it out at
www.racebilder.nu.
Paul Castle has updated his Grandpa's Toy web site with the latest news from his Supertwin pit. You
can stay in touch at www.freewebs.com/grandpastoyracing.
Darren Prentice is also the man to contact for any racer wishing to hire portable toilets for
exclusive use in their pits at the FIA European Finals. If you wish to hire a portable toilet then again
please contact Darren at darren@santapod.com
or on 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828).
"Last week Will underwent a nine-hour operation at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London and he's currently in their Intensive Care Unit.
By the time you read this, hopefully he may be back on the ward. In all we expect he will be in hospital for fifteen days. We would have
found the prospect of having such a serious operation daunting, but Will's logic was "How can I drive a Funny Car in the future if I'm not fit
enough, so it needs doing". Can't argue with that!
If you have any queries about FIA European Finals entry, then please call Paula on 01933 313625 (outside
the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail
paula.marshall@btconnect.com.
Comeback Of The Year. 8th August: Norwegian Top Methanol Dragster racer Paul Ingar Udtian and his
team pulled off the comeback of the year after a parachute failure at the Veidec Festival.
The Q8 Oils-sponsored dragster set a new distance record for going into the field at the end of
Mantorp Park's shutdown area and suffered some damage in a double roll, but with a titanic effort
by the team and the help of Paul Ingar's fellow racers the car was back on track the next day. Konrad
Ree got in touch to tell us how it went from the team's point of view:
There was huge excitement before the Veidec Festival and the third round of the FIA European Championship. The team
was in fourth spot in the Championship, not too bad, but we were fighting to reach our season's goal which was to be in
the top three.
Friday's first qualifying round started with a nice 5.67/403 kmh, which won Paul Ingar second qualifier. But something scary
happened at the end of the track. The release mechanism to the parachute failed and Paul Ingar had huge problems slowing
down the car. The dragster continued off the end of the track, through the sand (which is there to slow down cars that have
problems with stopping), and continued about 150 metres into the cornfield.
Then the car rolled and ended upside down. Paul Ingar quickly got out of the dragster on his own, with the safety crew not far
behind, checking him for possible injuries. The driver was angry, but free of injury.
Unfortunately the dragster had got a little damage, but the team quickly saw the
possibility to get the dragster checked and fixed and then continue the race. Half an hour after the incident, almost twenty people
were in full swing fixing the car and making it ready to race again. We needed several new parts to make the car ready again, and
they were lent to us by our competitors. Thanks to Dave Wilson for lending us a rear wing, to Rob Turner
who lent us front wheels, and also to Peter Schöfer who helped us with other parts, just so the Islanders could continue
the race. After almost twelve hours of work, the car was ready to race. The car was checked by a chassis expert, so we were sure that
it was OK before Paul Ingar was racing again.
On Saturday morning the team was ready for the third qualifying round. A lot of people were surprised to see the dragster at the start
line - nobody had imagined that the team was going to get the dragster ready the same weekend. Paul Ingar seemed untouched by
Friday's incident when 5.67/402 popped up on the scoreboard. The team was happy, and even the spectators, commentator and
and the contestants cheered! The Islanders Dragracing Team was back in business!
Paul Ingar was up against Timo Habermann in the first round of eliminations. This was going to be a very exciting race, the two drivers
with probably the best reaction time in the Top Methanol class. Timo got the best start, with an amazing 0.019 second against Paul's
0.048. It was a tight race, and they were side by side all the way to the finish line, where Timo took the win, only 0.098 seconds
before Paul Ingar (about a car length - Ed). Timo stopped the clocks at 5.56/411 against Paul Ingar's 5.63/404.
When we looked at the ETs from the other races in this round, we could see that it was only Timo who had a good enough ET to
eliminate Paul Ingar. To see that was a little sad, but the team is satisfied, considering the incident and all the problems that weekend.
We counted up the working hours from we started work on the car on Wednesday until we were ready to leave Mantorp, and it added
up to seventy six hours pr mechanic. It was a lot of work, but we got the car together and just lost one qualifying session.
Paul Ingar is still number four in the points standings. There are two races left, and the battle for the top three position is not over yet.
Hope to see you all at Hockenheim!
Grumpy Tools up. 8th August: Current FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion Dave Wilson and the
Silverline Tools team will be attending
this Sunday's Silverline-backed Power Tool drag race at the Haynes Motor Museum near Yeovil.
This Sunday's event also features Go Karts, drifting, a P1 Powerboat (Are they expecting a lot of
rain? - Ed) and Jason Plato in a Silverline Tools truck recently modified by Eurodragster.com Home
and News sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars.
You can find out more at
www.silverlinetools.com/power_tool_drag_racing.html.
Robert Lim was recently asked on behalf of the Lord High Chamberlain
to get some TV coverage for the new race track he's had built in the grounds of his castle in Cheshire. "With the help of Mike McCormack,
his head of communications, I arranged for a helicopter with a film crew aboard to race my car around the course", says Robert. "It was
very satisfying to lay rubber on a brand new track! The feature was shown in prime time by Granada Television and seems to have been
well received. The new venue is hosting a major new event this weekend, the Cholmondeley
Pageant of Power, combining Classic Motorsport with a helicopter show and powerboat racing. Next year there's even the possibility of a drag racing
display featuring some Altereds from the NFAA. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Smax Smith and Cath Napier for their help and advice during this
busy time."
Outlaws' double header. 8th August: The UK's Supercharged Outlaws started their mid-summer back-to-back weekends at York Raceway
last weekend, sponsored by Roy Wilding Race Cars. Dave McKenzie tells us that five cars made the trip and were joined at York by Mark Flavell
in his Super Pro ET Funny Car:
The Outlaws ran over the eighth mile, and big smoky burnouts were the order of the day. If there was a prize for the biggest burnout then
it would have been a close call between Mark Flavell's FC and Lee Gallimore's altered. In the first runs on Sunday both cars put on a great
display but I think Lee shaded it by nearly reaching the quarter mile boards. I waited for Lee to back up I was not running that far to guide
him back. Lee is quoted as saying that it gets lonely all that way up the strip on your own.
In one match up Roy Wilding paired up with Mark Flavell and it was a great side by side Funny Car versus slingshot duel.
Mark pipped Roy to the line by a short head, Roy running 5.47 to Mark's 5.22.
Alec Coe's season does not get any better. On his second pass on Saturday the torque converter let go sidelining Alec for the rest of the weekend
Steve Goode put on a steady display, learning the Wobble car and getting to grips with the monster engine. Steve told me that he toned the engine
down for York but his was the most consistent car and Steve came away with the Roy Wilding Race Cars trophy for this meeting.
Last but not least Tony Smith Tony has had some bad luck this season but he now seems to have turned the corner, with each of his four runs
getting quicker finishing the day with a 6.9 over the eighth.
We are scheduled to run twice today and twice tomorrow. The Outlaws have nine cars entered for this event; with a massive crowd expected we
are really up for putting on a good show for the bikers. Three slingshots, three altereds and three doorslammers intend to attack the quarter mile
and we should see some close racing with low seven second passes. Steve Goode is said to be turning up the power for this one, and Lee Gallimore
was servicing the Red Mist altered on Monday just to make sure every thing is A-OK. Alec and Kev were due to refit the gearbox at the track on
Tuesday. Roy Wilding will be confident after his duel with Mark Flavell at York so I expect Roy to lean on the Hemi Hunter this weekend.
Ian Hanson with his immaculate Corvette is capable of running in the low sevens if the track is there. Tony Smith is getting more confident with the
Faster Pussycat altered and is looking forward to this one. Richard Davis will be back after missing York due to holidays and will be want to
regaining his top spot with his doorslammer. Making the long journey from the Isle of Wight will be Paul Watts with the No Easy Pick-up. Paul
will be hoping for some consistent runs from the truck after a lot of work over the last couple of months. Jon Best is shaking down his new nitro
slingshot and wil make his début on the track running 90% nitro which should make him sit up and take notice.
The Supercharged Outlaws would like to thank the organisers of the Bulldog Bash for the invite. We are really looking forward to this great event
and hope to repay them with a great show.
Smax back in the hot seat. 7th August: Earlier this year ex-pat UK Fuel racer Smax Smith answered an
advertisement offering a drive at the IHRA race in Rockingham, ony to discover that the event
clashed with his daughter's wedding. The team retained their driver for the next event
but then Smax received an E-Mail offering him the drive at the IHRA events at Grand Bend and Toronto,
a chance too good to be turned down:
I needed to upgrade my IHRA Nitro Funny Car licence to Top Fuel and was told I could do this
in the first qualifier on Friday. I had never seen the car nor met the team, and I was to turn up
and drive a full pass to cross-licence. So no pressure there then! My boys Aidee and Ronan and Azzy
and their mates and I took my motorhome and arrived on Thursday to meet Bob the dad and owner, who
is seventy years old and has been driving injected nitro since 1960. I just went into the storage
business so I gave the guys some parts in exchange for advertising on the car.We helped unload the
car and got ready to meet the team on Friday.
I fit the car well, I believe it was Viveca Averstedt's old chassis from Florida, anyhow it's fully
updated with some good stuff but no clutch or fuel management. Six primary fingers and a ton of weight
so yahoo, let's ride!
The team were happy with me and decided we would go to Martin, Michigan, less than one hour from Chicago
as the Toronto race was cancelled due to their not making facility improvements. It was also great to see
Dave Bryant (from Shockwave) there helping Terry Haddock to win Nitro Funny Car.
Last Friday we set off at 5.30 am to make the border at 8:00 am and drive to hook up with the team in Detroit.
We drove the laborious threee and a half hours across the state and arrived at Martin around 1.30.
We unloaded the car and finished the last few jobs, deciding that a few jet changes to balance motor
and more blower were all we were going to do to record data for tuning from two runs.
Went out on Friday night against Luigi Novelli and nailed him on the tree with an 0.25 light and ran 5.8/230
dropping three cylinders and breaking a belt. The data revealed that we still had some jet issues, but
checking the motor we had bent a couple of pushrods which hadn't dropped cylinders but we realised that
this happened after the belt broke. We had gone back to a four disc clutch as the five disc needed
more power that we didn't have. A long thrash and we had some issues but we waded through and got car ready
for the afternoon session.
We warmed up after taking out weight, putting in more timing and blower as well as fuel. It sounded awesome
then disaster - it stopped! After careful checking we realised the clutch had locked up. It didn't make sense
but we had to pull out the pack. We missed the call so watched the other racing, but then there was huge oildown
so we ran back to see if we could get ready and discovered the flywheel bolts were loosened and one bolt had
moved out and struck the first disc - how lucky were we not too run!
We got another disc and Aidee and I put the clutch back in. With twenty minutes to go Dad decides he wants
the five-disc back in, so we ripped out the four-disc and put int he five disc only to find that
the pack thickness not correct. We put the four-disc back in and with a few minor jobs still to do we
decided to sit out the session after all and go out and run at night with the cool air and track.
After we fired up it was smoking from #5 cylinder but we had no choice but to try to make the cut.
Did a great burnout and the car sounded awesome, stopped and put the clutch in and selected reverse
but nothing. The reverser was smashed so I got pushed back then the third problem, the revs were too
high. Gary the Crew Chief was pushing on the blades and I highsided it to drop rpms but we got shut
down - bummer! Capacity crowd too. Never mind.
We took the car back and enjoyed rest of racing and a few beers and watched a full show next day too.
We serviced car, got parts for the reverser from Lenco and fixed anipped ring on #5 piston then decided
to let dad see if he still had it and go for a 330 foot squirt at the end of the day.
We did get him to the line and after a fine burnout he launched but it kaboomed almost immediately and
pushed out both head gaskets into a spectacular fireball. He will have some stories for his pals who think
bowling is the sport of kings! We suspect mechanical failure which we will be checking soon as we left the
track after 10:00 pm and faced a long drive home. We haven't discounted being on the high side for too long
either!
I would like to thank all the fans who E-Mailed me good luck wishes and also hello to all the teams competing
so fiercely in Top Fuel in Europe - well done guys. More in future so stay tuned to my web site at
www.smax.co.uk.
Swift snippets. 7th August: Many thanks to Julie Willcox for forwarding us Version 1 of the official
entry list for the Open Sport Nationals, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 25th-27th
August. You can check out the entry list by
clicking
here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com
page and selecting the Open Sport Nationals. If you think you should be on the Open Sport Nationals
entry list, or if you have any queries about entering the event, then please call Julie on
07792 919508 or 01789 720180.
Thanks also to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us
Version 4 of the official FIA European Finals entry list, which you can view by
clicking here
or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Entry for all classes Pro and Sportsman closes tomorow, Friday; entry forms are available
on the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any
queries about FIA European Finals entry, then please call Paula on 01933 313625 (outside the UK
+44 1933 313625) or E-Mail
paula.marshall@btconnect.com.
Also gutted is Sweden's Anders Envall who tells us that he has had to cancel his traditional trip to
race his Impala SS at the FIA European Finals. The engine of his Dodge RV support vehicle expired and the transmission
of his race car will have to come out to be renovated. The US' Karl Ellwein has also had to cancel
his FIA European Finals appearance but he is planning to return to fulfil the date in 2009. You can
find out more on Bostic's web site at
www.blackout.nu.
Øyvor Jacobsen and Linda Thun Tønseth have been in touch to say Thank You to the
crew of the Top Fuel Dragster which Linda was supposed to drive at Gardermoen. "Even though the race was rained
out we had a great weekend thanks to all the nice people we had around us", they say.
"We both want to say a special Thank You to Pavi the chef for taking such good of us, making excellent food
for so many people. We would also like to thank Jari Eki for bringing the Eagle Racing truck and trailer
from Finland so we could enjoy the best facilities at the track. Linda is especially grateful to Crew Chief
Ben Allum for being so patient and thoroughly explaining and going through all the routines, making her feel
confident and secure. Thank you so much, all of you!"
Nostalgia racers sought. 7th August: With the current trend towards turning the clock back to the halcyon days
when Harold Wilson was Prime Minister and dinosaurs ruled the drag strips, organisers of the 20th Annual
NSRA Hot Rod Drags - scheduled for 12th-14th September at Shakespeare County Raceway, the home to
nostalgia drag racing - are looking for some fun time drag cars to put on display which suit the nature
of the event, writes SCR's Jerry Cookson.
"We are looking for some true classics which we know all too well are out there" says Jerry. "You only
have to cast your eyes over the many threads on the UKDRN
Nostalgia forum to get a feel of what actually still exists today, and what they were in a former life.
Display cars can be in part repair or under restoration. It doesn't matter, as each vehicle will tell a unique
story of how the sport has progressed from days gone by. Heck, it doesn't have to be a car. It could be
a body shell, panels or even an engine and trans!
"So far we've contacted a few owners who have expressed an interest, but we could do with a few
more to make the display something that hot rodding and drag racing fans will hopefully remember
for another twenty years, and it's all under cover. It doesn't matter what state the vehicle is in, it's
all part and parcel of the Nostalgia holiday weekend. So why not come and join the party?"
Mantorp Park: A very big Thank You to Kjell Pettersson and all the others on the track team who again managed to make a
very good track out of nothing, and to manage to have a track that we could race on; I was almost afraid that the track not would last
due to the sun. Also thank you to all other people working at Mantorp Park for all their help during the weekend.
In Pro Stock Bike there were nine qualifiers this year. We had two racers from Greece again this year and they both qualified this time.
Fredrik Fredlund ended up as the number one qualifier and Ulf Ögge number two. In the eliminations on Sunday was it very exciting.
In the semi it was Fredlund against Bishop, who has some problems with a carburetor and that put Fredlund in the final. In the other half
it was Ögge against Stavros and with a red light for Ögge it was an easy win for Stavros. So in the final it was Fredrik Fredlund
who took the win and led the Championship. I must also say something about our new lady Gabby from Sweden who made her first race.
She did not qualify but that will change soon. She came in to the race as an alternate and almost took out Stavros on the start. Her new bike
looks very good and will soon run some good times. But talking to all the Swedish riders who sat out this season makes me wait for next
year when a lot of riders will come back.
In Supertwin there turned out to be the many explosions and problems. I must say that missed a lot of riders who had entered the race and then
cancelled. Charley Karling made some photographers happy and scared us with his problems getting the new bike to run. He went home on
Friday evening and rebuilt the bike, but this did not help him. He had the same problems on Saturday again. Hans Olaf Olstad also had some
big problems and completely broke his engine. Some other problems for riders and we ended up with Per Bengtsson and Lorenz Stauble on one side
in the semifinal with Per winning. On the other side was it Svein Olof Rolfstad and Job Heezen. And it was Rolfstad who was the quickest and
took the win. I must say that I am glad to see how Job Heezen has learned to handle his bike. Of course he has good help from the Pels
family but learning to ride a nitro bike so quickly ast is very good and we will surely see more from him.
In the final Per's starter motor stopped working so it was a single run for Rolfstad who led the Championship before his home race in Norway.
In Top Fuel bike it was very nice to see so many Top Fuel Bikes in Sweden. I do not know if we ever had six blown nitro bikes before.
Peter Svensson was the one who took the lead from the first run until the end of the race.
Setting new records for both ET (4.06) and Speed (303) on the eighth at Mantorp had us waiting for the next week and Norway.
Rikard Gustavsson's Funny Bike is also very good. He was in the other half in the elimination and in the final. But his very good times did
not help against Peter Svensson.
The other Fuel Bikes with Ian King, Sverre Dahl, Eric Teboul, Peter Andersson Str&oml;m and Kai Selekämaa all made very
good passes. It is very nice to see two Fuel bikes chasing each other down the strip. It was also nice to see some new Swedish Funny Bikes.
Many of them started to work very well and the future will be very interesting when they have sorted out their problems. But I must say that
we have to do something regarding this mixture in the future.
Gardermoen: Gardermoen is a very special place. It is one of the best tracks in Europe, if not the best. Many of the people
working are very nice and friendly. I have known several of them for many years. Arriving on Thursday and doing the track inspection
in bright sunshine was easy. They have a new toilet and shower block which looked fine. Still some problems but much better than before.
On Friday we had very good weather and had two qualifying rounds without any problem. But on Saturday it started to rain just before
we should have started qualifying and then it continued until the evening. So we just had to wait, qualifying only took place on Friday and
the organiser lost a lot of money due to the fact that there were almost no spectators on Saturday. The weather forecast for Sunday was
not much better and it turned out to be even worse. It started to rain just before we should bike eliminations and it continued.
At around three o'clock the track was almost ready for us but then it started to rain again. So there was nothing else for the Clerk of the Course
to do but cancel the race. It did not even help to have UEM Vice President Ted Bartlett or the Norwegian member of the board Lene Fåvang
at the site.
Some things about qualifying. In Top Fuel bike we had seven Fuel bikes, Rikard Gustavsson and the two Czechs. After Friday evening
Eric Teboul was at the top with a 6.2 pass followed by Norwegian Sverre Dahl also in the 6.2s. After him was it Peter Svensson on a 6.3
pass with low top speed since he shut off early. Ian King was the fourth before Kai Selkämaa and in the last position was Rikard
Gustavsson who is normally is at the top. Everyone hoped for some more qualifying rounds so they could improve their times.
The situation in the championship is very exciting. Rikard just twelve ahead of Ian King leaving the Championship totally open before
the last race. Peter Svensson and Eric Teboul, just 45 and 46 points behind, can also make it to the top if something happens.
This shows how important it is to attend all races. If either had been in Finland then either could easily have won the Championship.
In Supertwin Lorenz Stauble was the fastest of the six people attending the race. We are missing many names this year. Hopefully
more will come out next year. Number two was Job Heezen and third was Svein Olaf Rolfstad who now is leading the Championship
by 34 points before the last event. If he comes to England and makes a good qualifying run will he almost certainly be the Champion.
He should have met his Norwegian fellow Hans Olav Olstad in the first round. Tommy Möller was in fifth place and should had meet
Job Heezen. Finally Per Bengtsson had some problems during the qualifying on Friday and was waiting very much for a new round on
Saturday but to race Lorenz Stauble in the first round could have been go for the silver place in the Championship.
In Pro Stock Bike Fredrik Fredlund was once again the fastest after two qualifying rounds. If he just turns up and qualifies at Santa Pod in September
he will be the Champion. He was followed by Chris Hope who is getting closer to some really good times. And once again Stavros Svrachnos was
number three with nice straight passes, a little bit different from the first runs at Mantorp. Martin Bishop who was fourth this time should have
met the other Greek Haralambos Bousinis in the first round. I hope that these two Greeks will make the final event in England and that we
will see them more next year. Both riders and their bikes have great potential. The biggest surprise was that Ulf Ögge was last in
qualifying after some problems with ignition. Gabriella Nikolovska was the first and only alternate after making her first seven-second pass.
She came close to putting out Ögge in that run. Hopefully will we see more riders next year and with Keith Bartlett's promise to have a
sixteen bike field if it just fulfils the regulations it can be a very interesting next year.
We also had the final round for Pro Stock Snowmobile here at Gardermoen, with just two riders turning up. I do not know what more to say than
Christina Blomquist is once again the winner of the cup, since she is the only one who attended both races. We did not have any eliminations either
in Sundsvall or here at Gardermoen due to rain but we have a final result. I do not know if we can continue this Cup if the interest from riders is so
low. I do know that this was a middle year due to different facts, but but but...
This is my short report from Norway and Gardermoen. I do hope that the people at NDRG can find a way to organise a race next year.
The track is good and the facilities have improved a lot since last year. Nobody will blame them if the infrastructure is not better next year
due to the fact that they did not have a good weather this time and not so many spectators this time. The timing of the race just after Sweden
is perfect and everyone loves the track. Maybe in the future they can host both the FIA and the UEM Championships.
K&H Racing press release. 7th August: Marc Meihuizen heeft in Mantorp Park tijdens de derde wedstrijd van het FIA Europees Kampioenschap
Pro Modified in alle opzichten zijn beste klassering ooit neergezet. In het uiterst sterk bezette veld haalde
de rijder van K&H Racing de finale en eindigde
als runner-up. Met deze uitslag legde Meihuizen ook nog eens beslag op de tweede plaats in het Zweeds
Kampioenschap en steeg naar de derde plaats in de tussenstand van het FIA Europees Kampioenschap op
slechts één punt van de nummer twee Mikael Lindahl. Op weg naar de finale klopte Meihuizen diezelfde
Lindahl en zette daarbij met 6,180 seconden en 369,39 km/u ook nog eens twee nieuwe persoonlijke records
op de klokken. "Die run tegen Mikael was voor mij absoluut de run van het weekend, naast elkaar richting
de finish en dan de Europees recordhouder kloppen, helemaal top", aldus een meer dan tevreden Meihuizen.
Sinds de introductie van het FIA Europees Pro Modified Kampioenschap in 2005 wordt de titelstrijd beheerst door vooral
Scandinavische rijders terwijl een Engelse deelnemer af en toe een wedstrijdoverwinning meepakt. In het hol van de leeuw
meldde Marc Meihuizen zich definitief als titelkandidaat en zorgde voor opschudding door diverse Zweedse favorieten
resoluut naar huis te sturen. En dat in de met 24 deelnemers niet alleen best bezette maar met minimaal tien serieuze kanshebbers
ook nog meest competitieve klasse van het FIA Europees Kampioenschap.
Het begon al in de kwalificatie toen Meihuizen in zijn '37 Chevrolet Business Coupé met 6,283 seconden de vijfde tijd op de
klokken zetten. Daarmee moest de K&H-rijder het in de eerste eliminatieronde opnemen tegen Norbert Kuno. Ondanks een
wat mindere start zette Meihuizen de Duitser direct op grote achterstand waarna Kuno zich gewonnen gaf en de Business
Coupé als eerste de finishlijn passeerde. In de kwartfinale wachtte met Mikael Lindahl, nummer vier uit de kwalificatie en
Europees recordhouder, een zware klus. Meihuizen reageerde echter met 0,097 tegen 0,119 seconden net iets eerder op
de lichten en bouwde zijn voorsprong tijdens de run zelfs nog uit. In een tijd van 6,180 seconden en met 369,39 km/u
passeerde Meihuizen de finish terwijl Lindahl bleef steken op 6,228 seconden. De 6,180 betekende na Finland (6,194 seconden)
alweer een verbetering van het persoonlijk record terwijl de tot op heden behaalde hoogste eindsnelheid van 363 km/u met
deze score helemaal verbleekte. In de halve finale wachtte vervolgens de nummer één uit de kwalificatie Mats Eriksson. Deze
klus was echter snel geklaard want terwijl Meihuizen zijn Business Coupé in 6,240 seconden en 367,80 km/u over de eindstreep
stuurde kampte de Zweed met grote problemen en bleef steken op 10,2 seconden. Daarmee was de eerste finale in een FIA
EK-ronde voor K&H Racing een feit.
In de eindstrijd moest Meihuizen nota bene aantreden tegen de enige andere Nederlander in het veld, Robert Joosten
waardoor een eerste Nederlandse Pro Mod-overwinning bij voorbaat vaststond. Nagenoeg gelijktijdig reageerde het tweetal
op het verspringen van het licht en kreeg vervolgens ook nog allebei te maken met tireshake. Na een kleine 200 meter viel
echter voor Meihuizen het doek toen door een elektronisch probleem de motor stilviel en hij kansloos moest toezien hoe zijn
tegenstander van hem wegreed. Van teleurstelling mocht gezien het totaalresultaat echter geen sprake zijn. Een runner-up
positie, de hoogste klassering in een FIA EK-wedstrijd ooit, runner-up in het Zweeds Kampioenschap (de uitslag van de
wedstrijd was tevens de uitslag van deze titelstrijd), twee persoonlijke records en de op één na snelste rijder van het hele
weekend. Met zijn behaalde punten steeg Meihuizen naar de derde plaats in het FIA Europees Kampioenschap op slechts
één punt van Mikael Lindahl en zestien punten achter leider Joosten. Meihuizen kon dan ook tevreden terugkijken. "De
run tegen Lindahl was voor mij het absolute hoogtepunt van het weekend. Naast elkaar richting de finish en dan met zo'n
klein verschil winnen. Mikael stond ondanks zijn verlies ook te springen, zo gaaf vond hij het."
Lucas Oil decals are available from Andy Carter and they must be clearly displayed on the car. If no
decal is displayed then the money will go to the runner-up or the next position with a visible decal.
Old Skool's out. 6th August: Jo Peters of the Old
Skool Ford Club tells us that three members of the Club are headed for Malta to take part in the
Malta Drag Racing Association's Night Event at Hal-Far Raceway on 22nd-23rd August.
"We run our modified but street-legal Fords more for fun than anything", says Jo. "We hold our seven rounds at both Shakespeare County Raceway and
Santa Pod Raceway between April and October, with coverage of each round in the Motorsport section of Classic Ford Magazine every month. Three of
us are driving out to Malta with our families in tow, leaving Dover on 16th August and travelling via Dunkerque, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy and Sicily,
arriving in Malta on 20th August.
"Ian Cox's Cosworth-powered MK2 RS2000 has run a best time this year of 12.3 on road tyres but with softer springs,
slicks and the five-link set up Ian is hoping to get into the elevens in Malta.
"Darren Doughty's Pinto-powered Mk1 Escort ran 11.7 last year with a 2.1 Pinto on twin 48's. This year it has just
had a ladder bar set up fitted by Kev Jenkins and Phil Martin, and a stonking Maltese Pinto is currently being built by a few of the
guys in Malta which will be installed as soon as we arrive on 20th ready for the night racing that weekend.
"Kev Jenkins' XE-powered Escort Mk1 just had a ladder bar set-up installed by himself and Phil Martin and is running
NOS. Kev has run a mid-ten so far this year but hoping to go lower in Malta."
We're sure that everyone will join us in wishing the Old Skool Ford guys every success in Malta, and we know that they can be assured of the warmest
of welcomes.
Thanks to Jerry Cookson for help with this news item.
Gullquist chasing the points. 6th August: FIA European Pro Modified Champion Micke Gullquist went to the Veidec
Festival at Mantorp Park with some new parts in his big Chevy, but he says that he was not worried that
the NordicLAN-sponsored team were not going to sort them out.
"I'm hoping that we now have it sorted out and I'm really looking forward to getting out on the track again at Hockenheim. I want to congratulate
Robert Joosten on his win at Mantorp Park, and Mats Eriksson for his record setting performance, along with many of the other guys who have been
running great this year."
Lightning strikes again. 6th August: Regular readers of Eurodragster.com will know that Norwegian Supertwin
racer Hans Olav Olstad has had more than his fair share of bad luck in the past, most recently a bad
experience with bearings at the FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro. But Hans Olav and his team never give
up and went back to their original bearing set-up for the crank for the Veidec Festival at Mantorp
Park, where it unfortunately proceeded to go wrong again:
On the first qualifying run on Friday the engine didn't run well before the fuel pressure dropped
to the base value. Not a good run at all. In the second run we had a serious launch of 1.11 to sixty
geet but the engine dropped a cylinder half track, and we got no time to talk about this time either.
On the third qualifying run, on Saturday, we wanted a good start and a good second half. We set up the
bike with the two parameters and hoped for a good time, but the engine dropped a cylinder on the start line,
filled the engine with nitro, and give us the biggest disaster ever (right).
Everything was gone: case, pistons, rods, heads, but we didn't
know about the crank yet. The race was finish for us, and as we were outside the ladder we dropped to
fourth place in the championship.
The only thing which worked was the safety gear. When it comes to safety on this bikes, it's nice to know
that it works the way it is meant to. The safety band around the engine held the heads and the oilpan on.
The diaper under the engine collected all the oil and we didn't spill a single drop on the track.
After we sorted out what was left of the engine, we found out that the future was dark. The crank was sent
to Hans Erik Myra, mechanic on the Håkonsen Pro Mod team, who measured and approved it, yippee. Hans Erik
also give us good hope for the case, which had to be welded in all four corners on its underside. Big Big thanks
to Hans Erik. But the welding would take too much time to be ready before the next race at Gardermoen.
Wednesday we collected a lot of parts, and we phoned another good friend, Cato Vaale. He is building a new
Supertwin bike and has a new case similar to ours. Cato said he expected a call when he heard what had happened
in Mantorp. And our biggest friend in the world at that moment lent us his case, and we decided to try to put
together the engine for Gardermoen.
We arrived at Gardermoen at midday on Thursday, and the team started wrenching for twenty four hours.
Thanks to Cato for help with the case and new bearings, Hans Erik for checking out the crank, Günther
Sohn for pistons, Job Heesen for rods, Lorenz Stäble for wrist pins and fuel parts, and Vidar for
head bolts. We managed to start the bike one hour before first qualifying run. We used the old heads and
one throttle body, so there was a major change in the engine set-up.
On Friday's first qualifying run, the engine stopped at the end of the burnout. Now what? It was only the
shut-off switch which switched itself off. The engine was ready to go before the next pair ran, but the
rules said we had to push the bike back to the pits. The second qualifying run was nice and straight, 7.02
and number four on the ladder. Sometimes I get emotional, and it was good to have few minutes to myself
after this run. So much work, so many friends wanting to help, and we did it again. Thanks to all of the
friends who helped.
Saturday: rain rain rain. Sunday: rain rain rain. There is nothing more to say, some parts of Europe need
a roof.
UK Rocket Dragster pilot Carolynne Campbell had an encounter with Rocket royalty when she met up
with Dick Keller, one of the names in rocket cars, who worked with Sammy Miller,
Chuck Suba, and the Land Speed Record-holding Blue Flame team amongst others. Dick was actually
in the UK to compete in a European Masters cycle race, but he made time in his busy schedule to chat
to Carolynne and husband David and to be interviewed on video by the Powerpoint Communications team.
You can read more on Carolynne's web site at
www.laffin-gas.com.
B&H Automotive Street Eliminator racer Bill Macdermid tells us that he and his team have been
working hard on his 1969 Camaro ready for a full assault on the class in 2009. You can find out more
on Bill's updated web site at
www.billythekidracing.co.uk.
What's on this weekend. 6th August: Germany's Hockenheimring hosts Thunderdrome on Saturday and Sunday.
This is a Sportsman race and Test and Tune for competition vehicles and bikes, leading up to next week's NitrolympX (from
which Eurodragster.com will be reporting live - Ed). Thunderdrome is also public Run What You Brung with the theme "Anyone can take part
and everyone has a chance". Admission to the event and the paddock is €5, grandstand entry is also €5. Pay and Race Street
for cars and street bikes is €7 per run frequent drivers discount of three runs for €20 and five runs for €30. Camping is
€10 per person per night, including vehicle. Gates open at 08:00 both days. More information at
www.thunder-drome.de.
The 25th Linde Open takes place in Lindesberg, Sweden on Saturday and Sunday. The event is organised by SHRA Lindesberg with Sportsman
racing in the TSDS South Championship and Junior, Super Street, Street Bike, Super Gas Bike, and Super Comp Bike in the NDRS Championship.
For more details check out www.shra.nu.
The Bulldog Bash Bikers Festival takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway from Friday to Sunday. This is one of the most popular biker events in
Europe with a reported crowd of 50,000 in 2007. A wide range of (sometimes adult) entertainments is on offer including Run What You Brung for bikes,
drag racing demos, bands, Custom Bike show, fairground, dance tent, wrestling, Wall of Death and a topless bike wash. The event's official web site
can be found at www.bulldogbash.co.uk.
Pro Mod Challenge standings. 5th August: Marco Maurischat of Eurodragster.com News sponsor
Exhaust-coating.de has been in touch with the
standings in the European Exhaust-coating.de Pro Mod Challenge after the Veidec Festival:
1. Urban Johansson 485 points
2. Micke Lindahl 435 points
2. Marc Meihuizen 435 points
4. Mats Eriksson 430 points
5. Andy Robinson 410 points
6. Roger Johnsson 405 points
7. Micke Gullquist 360 points
8. Bruno Bader 330 points
9. Patrik Wikström 310 points
10. Kristian Nyström 290 points
11. Freddy Fagerström 280 points
12. Terje Håkonsen 260 points
13. Robert Joosten 245 points
14. Michael Nord 225 points
15. Niclas Andersson 155 points
16. Danny Cockerill 140 points
17. Norbert Kuno 105 points
18. Seppo Saapola 95 points
19. Graham Ellis 85 points
19. Jari Parén 85 points
19. Jan Egil Kvalvik 85 points
Swift snippets. 5th August: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us
Version 2 of the official FIA European Finals entry list, which you can view by
clicking here
or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Entry for all classes Pro and Sportsman closes this Friday, 8th August; entry forms are available
on the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any
queries about FIA European Finals entry, then please call Paula on 01933 313625 (outside the UK
+44 1933 313625) or E-Mail
paula.marshall@btconnect.com.
On the subject of the FIA European Finals, the UK's Malcolm Motler has been in touch to let us
know that his very pretty Spellbound Morris Minor pick-up will be running in Super Comp at
the event, which we must be honest doesn't surprise us after Malcolm's spectacular 9.3-second breakouts
into a headwind on his last competitive outing which was nominally in Super Gas. "Fingers crossed for
a tailwind please", says Malcolm. You can find out more on the team's updated web site at
www.spellbounddragraceteam.co.uk.
We are very pleased to welcome photo-journalist Andy Willsheer as an Honorary Staff Member of
Eurodragster.com. Honorary Staff Membership is awarded on a very occasional basis to
non-sponsor individuals who have given us particularly strong practical or moral support;
Andy has provided both over the years having helped us with pictures or the exchange
of information and also being most entertaining company after hours.
Eurodragster.com will be posting a total of €140 in Perfect Awards at next week's NitrolympX at
Hockenheim. The Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect
Light Award and the Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect
ET Award will be €70 each. More details here on Eurodragster.com News next week.
NitrolympX press release. 5th August: Many thanks to Heike Schroeder for sending us an English translation of
Sunday's NitrolympX press release:
It's "Welcome to Speed, Power & Action" again at the Hockenheimring when on August 15 to 17, during the 23rd NitrolympX,
the undoubted kings of drag racing come together to celebrate their annual contests.
The racing highlight this year is for sure the FIA European Drag Racing Championship, which promises exciting competition in the Top Fuel, Top
Methanol and Pro Mod classes.
The Pro Mod cars, formerly called "Outlaws", will especially fascinate the visitors to the NitrolympX: there are no limits to cylinder capacity, and
nowhere else you will find 11.5 litres of cylinder capacity in such a cool package. In his time James Dean would definitely have been a Pro Mod driver!
Among the 30 (!) listed competitors there is everything that's nice and quick - from Willys Coupe and Chevy BelAir to the most up-to-date models of the
US automobile industry.
The Motodrom at the historic Baden racetrack will again quake up to the topmost rows from the roaring of the motors with up to
6,000 horsepower, which dash to the finish line reaching a breathtaking 500 km/h.
Besides the sporty "Speed & Power" the "Action" of the legendary Night Show on Saturday evening is a highlight of the NitrolympX. Two hours of
entertainment and spectacle. Between Hot Rod Parade, Burnout contest and the legendary Top Fuel night runs the LaOla waves of the enthusiastic
spectators roll around the Motodrom.
What happened? 4th August: UK B & H Automotive Street Eliminator racer Ron Haslett
has had problems with his gearbox this year as a result of the extra power from his new engine.
With six weeks between Street Eliminator rounds leading up to Bug Jam Ron figured he had plenty
of time to get a new box in place, but it didn't turn out that way:
We qualified fifth which means we outqualified Ray Comer but it was very close, my 9.4 to his 9.6. I decided to hit the gas hard off the line
and the rest as they say is history. At one point I though the car was going over - I was told that you could see the underside of the car.
All in all a very good weekend, six Personal Bests and we didn't have to take the box out. I'm looking for either photographs or video
of our last run against Ray Comer so that we can try and see what went wrong other than the obvious.
Swift snippets. 4th August: Just when we thought it was safe to go back to the drag strip, the
rain carried the day at the Sunoco Drag Challenge at Gardermoen at the weekend. The FIM/UEM
classes were only able to qualify on Friday and the Sportsman classes didn't get much more of a go
as the rain kicked in not long into the day both on Saturday and yesterday causing the event to be
cancelled. Tezzii and the Eurodragster.com North team were at Gardermoen and you can check out their
reports and pictures of what did happen at
www.eurodragsternorth.com.
Bob Roberts of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor
Andy Robinson Race Cars tells us that
he had a few bounced E-Mails when he sent out the latest newsletter. If you are on the ARRC mailing list
and have not had your usual copy then please drop Bob a line at
roberrl-1@robinson-race-cars.co.uk.
A date for your diary: the 2008 Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association Awards Evening is to
be held on Saturday 18th October at St John's Hotel in Solihull. NFAA members will of course
receive full details and we will publish more details soon.
Coco attracts the bugs. 4th August: The Never Again Racing team had a pleasurable weekend at the
Mopar Euronats at Santa Pod Raceway, not least Dave Evans who ran bests in Coco Connection
on just about every pass:
The last pass of the day on Sunday was well into a new Personal Best for Dave and Coco, 9.2488/142.99.
She was certainly flying. You can see pictures of our weekend, not all of Coco, at
neveragainracing.fotopic.net.
A tune from our sponsor... 4th August: It seems to us that a number of UK drag racers are also gifted
musicians - Fay Fischer of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor
Speedflow, Super Pro ET racer Chris
Orthodoxou, and Malcolm and Marcie Motler of the Spellbound Super Gas team spring immediately
to mind - but we certainly weren't aware until now of the musical talent of Dan Welberry, Team
PR for Carter Motorsport and Eurodragster.com News sponsor through his company
3t creative. Dan tells us that his
group Audio1 are releasing a single next Monday (11th August) and that Eurodragster.com readers
can help to get it airtime:
The song is a cover version of the 1980s Howard Jones classic What Is Love? and is being released
with the full backing of both Howard and his record label.
We'd like to invite you to join us at the ibar in Bournemouth for the official single and video launch.
The evening will kick off at 7.30 and will include special guests in support. We have a significant
guest list to include many industry friends, press and radio representatives. Not only will you hear
the new single in its full live glory but you'll also be the first to see the new video, shot at the
stunning Opera House in Boscombe. The band will also be performing an hour-long set for your enjoyment.
Admission will be just £3 on the door or in advance from
dave@nlightn.org.uk.
We've been delighted with the progress being made by our radio pluggers Fleming Connolly. Sean Cooney
and his team have been working hard to secure spot plays on various national stations and we were delighted
to hear Janice Long play the single. This gave us a good platform on which to build and we're delighted that
more Radio 2 plays are due before the release date. Work is ongoing with Radio 1. You can help us to gain
radio play by texting the stations on the following numbers:
Radio 1 81199
Radio 2 88291
Virgin 81215
Capital 83958
"We drove up to Mantorp with Marc again", says Robert, "and of course we were racers, not giving an inch.
We didn't know it would be like that in the final as well!"
"We were very proud to make it to the final with close runs against the best in Pro Mod,
and to be the first Dutch Pro Mod driver to take a FIA win.
"I really need to say thanks to my crew - these guys are unbelievable, without them I would be useless. My sponsors who have supported
me through the years, Billy from Oddy's, and Lex Joon and Gerard Willemse for sharing their technical thoughts with us. Thanks also to Murray
for giving me such a nice car. She is getting old, but heck, she still rocks!"
Selkämaa's best weekend. 3rd August: Finland's DB-Team Selkämaa Top Fuel Bike team had a great weekend
at Mantorp Park last week, despite some problems before the race, writes Kaija Kohtala:
On Wednesday morning when we tried to start the engine we found that there was no oil pressure at all. However we didn't
have much time to work on the bike before leaving for Mantorp. We had to catch the ferry to Stockholm and decided to
handle the problem in the pit area at Mantorp next day. Later on Thursday it turned out that there was a failure on the oil
pump. Luckily, we were able to repair it during Thursday evening. Thanks to Eric Teboul who helped us a lot!
On Friday in the first qualifying round the tyre went up in smoke straight from the start due to too much clutch. Our rider
Kai Selkämaa performed very professionally and shut off in time and he managed to avoid any damages to the
engine. That's why the engine remained undamaged which was certainly appreciated by the team's technicians.
The second qualifying round went quite well but Kai shut the throttle a bit too early which was the reason for the quite
a poor top speed 211.11 kmh. The time was 4.648 seconds which places Kai sixth in the elimination round.
In the first qualifying round on Saturday the bike didn't run quite straight and time wasn't as good as we expected. Kai
had to turn the throttle on and off all the way. It really was a pity because the sixty-foot time of 1.060 was very promising.
In the second round he got a beautiful start but the clutch slipped too much all the way which resulted in quite a modest
sixty-foot time of 1.113. Despite all this Kai managed to improve his time to 4.614/232.90 and kept his position as sixth
in qualifying. As a whole we were really happy with our qualifying rounds. We were pleased to be placed number six
among fourteen racers in our first season in the Top Fuel Bike class.
For Sunday's elimination rounds we had a new clutch and in the first round Kai was to face reigning European Champion
Rikard Gustafsson. Rikard won the run with 4.255/283.87 but Kai also made a good run and set a personal best of 4.392/274.53.
Unfortunately the Racepak data logging system on our bike was out of action during the whole weekend so we couldn't gather
any data of the runs. This was quite harmful for us especially concerning the last run because we really know that there would have
been a lot of potential on the bike for a much better performance. Without data logging we weren't able to analyse why the time
wasn't any better. We are going to fix it before the next race at Gardemoen.
At the moment Kai Selkämaa is number six in the UEM point standings but the margins are very small and he's got
every possibility to be placed among the top three in the UEM series. DB-Team Selkämaa is very confident going
into Gardemoen as the bike ran well without any trouble at Mantorp. In addition, Kai got very useful experience of the vehicle
and had several really good runs. And now, DB-Team Selkämaa is heading to Gardemoen in order to search for their
first elimination round win!
The temperature was more than thirty degrees Celsius, and because of the warm weather the track was too warm and it was difficult to get the necessary grip.
The track at Mantorp is difficult even when the conditions are good. It's very bumpy, but when the grip is good you can drive through the bumps.
That wasn't possible this time but despite the heat, we managed to get some really good ETs in eliminations on Sunday.
In the first round on Sunday morning, we had an ET of 5.80 seconds, the best ET for the class over the weekend.
We didn't have any problems eliminating first Danny Bellio then Leif Andréasson, and in the final Arvid Grødem.
It went as well as we could hope. Our closest opponent Jarmo Kuutniemi lost in the first round, and we took out Leif Andréasson
in the second. That means that we now have about a one hundred point lead in the FIA European Drag Racing Championship.
We had a new rider, Brett Cordelle, riding a V-twin 125cc Honda. Jordon Bissell went straight into the number one qualifying spot with an excellent
12.96 run on a 12.95 dial in, followed by Scott Collier in second with a 10.32 on a 10.30 dial, Giselle Moor 12.33 on a 12.10 dial, Joe Dear 12.78 on a 12.50
dial and new boy Brett breaking out with a 15.43 on a 16.00 dial in.
Jordon had a bye first round, and Scott was up against Brett. Scott dialled in 10.20 to Brett's 12.80, Scott caught and passed Brett but was just a fraction
short on his roll off, running 10.199 and so breaking out. Brett went through with a 13.69 so well done Brett. Giselle was up against Joe who failed to show
due to a broken ignition so she had a solo run through to the next round.
Next round and it was Jordon against Giselle, Giselle breaking out with a 12.09 on a 12.15 and Jordon running through with another 12.96 on a 12.95 dial.
Brett now had the bye run into the final, giving him another run to get used to his bike!
The Junior class is getting more and more competitive and the racing is getting
very close and will make nail biting watching at Round 4, the Open Sports Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway on 23rd-25th August where we are chuffed
to say the class is being sponsored by Ian King of King Racing, thanks Ian.
Thanks to all riders, parents and crew and friends who came to support this little class which is gaining momentum and getting bigger and better all the time. If
anyone who would like any information on Junior Drag Bike racing we would be pleased to help, ring us on 01246 570304 or E-Mail
jerry@jaderacing.com . Our web site at
www.juniordragbike.co.uk is being revamped and will be ready shortly.
Swift snippets. 3rd August: Oliver Moser of FIA European Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com
sponsor Urs Erbacher's team tells us that he is posting on-site reports of Lorenz Stäuble's
progress at Gardermoen as well as that of Siw Nystad in Urs' Top Fueller. You can stay in touch at
www.erbacher.biz/Racing-Diary.217.0.html?&L=1.
Also sitting watching it rain is the UK's Andy Frost who is at Miramichi Dragway Park in Canada
for World Street Race II. Andy told us late last night that it had been raining since Friday evening.
Hopefully the video feed at
www.yourwaynetwork.com/Live1.htm
will have something better to show us today.
UK Fuel Altered racer Tony Betts has
asked us to say a big Thank You to Roger Sinclair, John and Mark at Speedshop UK for their
help in getting Venom 2 fully fitted to run a bucketful of Nitro with their pipework and
fittings. "These guys are are so conscientious and were not happy until it looked right", says
Tony. "Give them a call on 01245 290808 or look them up at
www.speedshopuk.co.uk for advice or
prices."
We would like to wish a very Happy Birthday to UK Top Methanol Dragster racer Rob Turner.
Hope you have a great, day Rob.
NitrolympX press release. 3rd August: Welcome to "Speed, Power & Action" heißt es wieder auf dem Hockenheimring, wenn sich vom
15. bis 17. August 2008 im Rahmen der 23. NitrolympX die unumstrittenen Könige der Beschleunigung zu ihrem alljährlichen Kräftemessen treffen.
Das sportliche Highlight der diesjährigen Veranstaltung ist sicher die Austragung der FIA-Drag Racing Europameisterschaft, die in den Klassen
Top Fuel, Top Methanol und Pro Mod spannendste Wettkämpfe verspricht.
Speziell die Klasse der früher "Outlaws" genannten Pro Mod Cars wird die Besucher der NitrolympX faszinieren: denn Hier werden keinerlei
Hubraumbegrenzungen vorgegeben, und nirgends sonst findet man bis zu Elfeinhalb Liter Hubraum in solch cooler Verpackung.
James Dean wäre zu seiner Zeit sicher ein Pro Mod-Fahrer gewesen.
Vom Willy's Coupe über Chevy BelAir, bis hin zu den aktuellen Modellen der US-Automobilindustrie ist unter den 30 (!!) gelisteten Teilnehmern
der diesjährigen Championship alles am Start was schön und schnell ist.
Von Freitag bis Sonntag wird das Motodrom der badischen Traditionsstrecke wieder bis in die obersten Ränge vom Brüllen der bis zu 6.000PS
starken Nitro-Triebwerke erzittern, die sich mit dem atemberaubenden Tempo von knapp 500 Stundenkilometern dem Ziel entgegenstürzen.
Neben sportlicher "Speed & Power" ist die "Action" der legendären Nightshow am Samstagabend ein Highlight der NitrolympX. Zwei Stunden
lang Entertainment und Show. Zwischen Hot Rod Parade, Burn Out-Contest und den legendären Top Fuel Nightruns branden die LaOlawellen
der begeisterten Zuschauer durchs Motodrom.
Paula has forwarded us Version 1 of the official FIA European Finals entry list which you can view
by clicking here
or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
If you think you should already be on the entry list, or if you have any queries about entry to the
FIA European Finals, then please call Paula on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or
E-Mail paula.marshall@btconnect.com.
Twenty years in eight seconds! 1st August: Gill and Andy Thetford of the UK's Artful Dodger Super Pro ET team
celebrated their twentieth wedding annversary in style at last week's Mopar Euronats as Chris Orthodoxou
gave Gill an eight-second passenger ride in his Apocalypse Racing Dodge Viper.
"Gill was overjoyed at the opportunity to feel how a race car performs on the track and has not stopped talking about it", says Andy. "The only down
side is that she now wants to race herself...if that is a down side. I would like to thank Chris and Angie plus their crew and all of the Santa Pod staff
and marshals for making this anniversary a truly special one, thank you, we love you all. Here's to the next twenty years at the Pod."
"Congrats to you both from Angella and myself, wishing you many more happy years together", adds Chrissy O.
"We would like to thank Dave and Steph Milam of She Devil Racing for all their help and advice, the MMA for organising the event, and once again,
as always, the staff and marshals at Santa Pod for their assistance."
All the way to the Bank. 1st August: Dennis Glanby of Sweden's Team Bankrobber Pro Street team tells us that
last weekend's Veidec Festival was Rimbert Valström and the team's last appearance in A/AA in Comp
Eliminator with their aircraft carrier which is disguised as a very rapid Plymouth Sedan.
Swift snippets. 1st August: UK Super Pro ET racer Mark Flavell's Flavell Welding Specialists Funny Car a run out will be appearing at this weekend's UK Northern
Nationals at York Raceway. "It's no secret that it's been a tough year for MFR",
says Mark Flavell, "but following on from our successful tour to Drachten in Holland last month, where we were #1 qualifier and reached the finals
before the heavens opened, we are hoping to continue enjoying 2008 and pound some serious pavement at York. Not to mention kick back and get
out the barbie and maybe just maybe the odd beer. It's shaping up to be a great event with a high calibre entry. The Supercharged Outlaws are
there and our little old hot rod will make every effort to be the upset and win the elimination."
The UK's Team Force Super Street team will be at the Stowmarket
Business Park, Ernest Nunn Rd, Stowmarket with their supercharged Datsun tomorrow to support Toyo Tyres in the opening of a new franchise
tyre and exhaust centre. "We will be starting the car up, as well as letting people sit inside and on top of the supercharger for photos, if that's what
turns them", says driver Mark Watkins. "All photos will be uploaded to our web site and can then be downloaded."
Aidan Heatley-Smith has been in touch to let us know that the UK's Smax Smith is contesting
this weekend's Torco Racing Fuels Northern Nationals in Michigan although Aidan omitted to let
us know in which class and the IHRA web site doesn't provide such niceties as entry lists. You
will be able to keep in touch with Smax's progress on the Drag Race Central web site at
www.dragracecentral.com.
Eurodragster.com's visitor count of 312,604 for July was the highest number of visitors we have
ever had in one calendar month. Many thanks to all of you for keeping coming back in such numbers
(although think how many more there would have been had we not turned so many away with our constant
preaching - Ed), to the racers for giving us things to write about, to the promoters, Clubs and Race
Officials for giving us the facilities, and to our sponsors for their backing. If it wasn't for you guys
we couldn't do this.
Wild Bunch head north. 1st August: The UK's Wild Bunch Race Co-ordinator, Claire Meaddows writes with a quick preview of
the Nostalgia racers' appearance at this weekend's UK Northern Nationals at York Raceway:
The Wild Bunch are really looking forward to running at York Raceway for their Summer Showdown event and hope to have seven or more
cars participating. The event will be the Club's fifth round of the Wild Bunch Series and the eighth round of our contingency sponsor's Real Steel Series.
Amongst the drivers heading north will be all of the Top 3 in the Wild Bunch Series, with Tony Smith and Dave Williams of Team Cunning Plan
in the lead again this year after four of six events. Tony and Dave have won the Series a record four times. Hot on their heels will be Scot Durrant's
Tiki Munki Ruby-bodied altered, currently in second place and Dave Rowlands' Destiny's Angel altered currently third and appearing at York for
the first time. Hoping to break into the Top 4 will be Crazy Chris Hartnells Backdraft slingshot, fresh from a win at the Mini Showdown at Shakespeare
County Raceway, and Terry Clifford's golden Ratcatcher Resurrection slingshot. Meanwhile young Mark Hartnell will be hoping for some good runs
in his Awesome 4-Some slingshot, at the track where he ran his Personal Best! Joining the Bunch for the first time this year will be veteran rear-engined
dragster campaigner Sag Southworth in his Daddy Cool rail, accompanied by Garlits and Prudhomme (they are the family's greyhounds, and quick they
are too!).
With current Real Steel Series leader Darren Law's Wicked Lady absent from the proceedings, second place man Dave Rowlands will be hoping
to make an impact on the lead, with Chris Hartnell following closely in third, and Team Cunning Plan hot on his trail in fourth.
The brief for the team at Mantorp Park was simple: qualify number 1, get Low ET, take the round wins and come home as
event winners with maximum points. This would then really heap the pressure on our fellow title challengers.
The task was always going to be really tough in Sweden. The first hurdle to overcome was the safety measures introduced for the Top Fuel
cars, with the decision to run over 1000 feet. We were all heading into to unknown territory as this was the first time in European drag racing
history that the sport's big guns had battled it out over this distance.
Another obstacle to overcome was the size of the entry in the class. For the first time in European Top Fuel history, fourteen cars were entered, all
battling it out for a place in the eight-car elimination ladder. This was obviously going to be a challenge for all the teams but a fantastic testament to
the growth in European drag racing, and an awesome spectacle for the fans.
By Saturday evening, the non-qualifiers were on the trailer and Andy Carter was number one qualifier with a stunning
4.0591/473.33 kmh (294.11 mph), Andy's fifth #1 qualifying spot in a row in FIA Top Fuel Dragster. The bump spot was a very
respectable 4.2791/425.57 proving that all the teams had really got a handle on the new distance and that Mantorp lived up
to its reputation as one of the quickest tracks on the circuit. Andy's numbers were not only good enough for Q1 but also for Low ET
of the weekend and a new track record at this distance going into eliminations.
As the sun rose over Mantorp on Sunday morning, the crew knew that only half the job was complete and that by sunset
we'd know if all our team objectives had been fulfilled. The pressure was on!
One race we would all be watching was points leader Lex Joon v Urs Erbacher. Urs took the win and the mood in the camp
was positive. Micke Kågered was to be our opponent in round one but with the Lucas Oil/ Landmeco car on such
good form, 4.0492 seconds later, we found ourselves preparing for a semi-final match-up with Jöran Persåker.
Our first round time was good enough to update the track record and low ET stats for the weekend!
Jöran gave a good fight in our match-up but a 4.1390 to his 4.8151 set up a fantastic final against Championship contender Urs Erbacher.
We were so close to fulfilling our brief, and maximum points were there for the taking if we could get round the Swiss man mountain! At the hit, Urs
was up in smoke, lots of smoke and Andy couldn't be seen at all. But as the view cleared, the scoreboard showed the win light in our lane and another
good run at 4.2739.
We were delighted with this one as we knew it was there for us to take. We scored maximum points with the event honours and now move on to
Germany in confident mood and as FIA Top Fuel Championship leaders.
Alan Currans has been in touch to let us know that his excellent Acceleration Archive has been
updated with Blog entries from Brian Taylor for both his forthcoming book Crazy Horses and
the Allard Chrysler Action Group. You can find both at
www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk.
Editor's note: We still have a backlog of news items with which we will catch up on tomorrow's update
including the latest news from the UK's Junior Drag Bikes (which we couldn't run today because we don't
have Microsoft Works here in the office), Veidec Festival Pro Mod winner Robert Joosten's other race with Marc Meihuizen last
week, Kai Selkämaa's latest Top Fuel Bike outing, a new sponsor for Bennett Racing, and much more, and please
keep those news items coming to
news@eurodragster.com.
31st August: If you were wondering why there was no live report from yesterday's Peak Performance Day,
it was because your News Editor and usual Race Reporter was strapped into Grumpy's Dodge having
30th August: Whilst most of the world was watching the achievements of their national
sporting heroes in China, European drag racing fans had their own Olympics to enjoy, the 2008 NitrOlympX
in Hockenheim, Germany.
30th August: Eurodragster.com Reserve Photographer Peter Donaldson has updated his
Fotopic gallery with pictures from last weekend's Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway.
You can check out Peter's shots at
29th August: UK Comp Bike racer Bob Brooks and the Yellow Metal Racing team are very pleased with the début
of their new bike at the Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway.
29th August: Sweden's Tricky Thörnäs Dragracing Team made their first outing
with Peter Thörnäs' 1963 Corvette at Gardermoen at the weekend. Our good buddy Patrik Jacobsson
got in touch to let us know how well things went with the twin-turbo machine:
29th August: If you were tuned in to Simon's pit notes from the weekend's Open Sport Nationals
you will have read in the notes from Tony Morris and John Everitt that Dave Gibbons' Rough Diamond
has been located and is to be rebuilt. Dave Gibbons got in touch to tell us some more:
29th August: UK Supertwin racer 
28th August: Dominic Romney has updated his Modern Pics web site with some great
pictures from the weekend's Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can find Dominic's shots at
27th August: UK Fuel Altered pilot John Wright has been in touch to thank everyone
who helped after what he describes as his Olympic gold in the Drag Racing Gymnastics category in the Chaos
Fuel Altered at Shakespeare County Raceway on Monday.
27th August: Finland's 
25th August: FIM/UEM European Drag Bike Championship Co-ordinator Lars Andersson has been in touch from Alahärmä where
he allowed racing to take place on a wet track:
25th August: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com what appears to
be a dragster on the verge of completion. We got no words at all with the picture so if you know any more, or if you would
like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
The Showtime FC certainly seems to have made an impression at Hockenheim. From the moment we arrived on Thursday, pictures of the car seemed to be everywhere. All the event posters around the approach roads, 4 pictures in various sections of the programme, all the official passes, souvenir cups, but best of all, 2 advertisement banners each 8 metres x 6 metres that were positioned to be in full view from both directions on the autobahn
The Night Show at Hockenheim is an experience like no other in drag racing, stunts, burnout contests, fireworks and at 9.45pm the nitro funny cars finished off in the dark – header flames lighting up the track and grandstands. John and Thomas did half passes and were together all the way, 2.679sec/2.693sec at the 330ft.
22nd August:
Lucas Oil USA-backed Pro Mod Driver 
22nd August:
Eurodragster.com's Reserve Photographer Peter Donaldson has updated 
21st August: UK AA/Fuel Altered racer Matthew Wright of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor 
21st August:
FB Racing's 8-second street legal '34 Ford was flying the flag for drag racing amongst rally cars, circuit racers and go-karts in Cheltenham town-centre on Saturday. All of the FB's are members of Cheltenham Motor Club (CMC) and driver Ian Hook was quick to accept the invitation to display the team's street rod as part of the CMC's involvement in the MSA's Motorsport Week. Titled “Pistons in the Prom” the event was a mini car show in Cheltenham's main shopping street, the Promenade.
20th August:
Pilot of the Nuthin' Fancy methanol-burning altered Joe Bond says the car has been put back together since the team experienced problems at the Summer Nationals:
19th August:
Top Fuel dragster pilot Micke Kågered would like to thank his crew for the Nitrolympx win in Hockenheim on Sunday.
19th August:
Sam Freeman was driving Vic Hammond's recently imported slingshot, the picture taken by Eurodragster.com's reserve photographer Peter Donaldson at the Peak Performance day on 15th August.
17th August:
If you saw the spy picture on 13th August, the constructor of the Split Decision Ford 100E Paul Shaw has kindly sent some further information after finding that his son sent us the pictures of the car, which is going into Pro ET and is due to make its initial runs this weekend:
16th August: UK Pro Mod racer Steve Hall made a return to the track at yesterday's Peak Performance
Day at Santa Pod Raceway in a Pro Mod imported from R&R Speed & Machine in
Huntsville in the USA. Steve made three shakedown runs in the orange C5-Corvette bodied car.
14th August: This happy chappie is Jan, team member of Robert Joosten's
14th August: Peter and Sören Svensson of Sweden's Kendall Racing Top Fuel Bike team swept
all before them at the Veidec Festival, qualifying number one and taking the event title and European and track
records:
We love it when this happens...yesterday's spy picture has spawned another. We got absolutely
no information with this picture so we'll have to go on what we can see which is a blown altered
sharing digs with a dragster. If you know any more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture,
then drop us a line at
13th August:
Although we are deep into the drag racing season it's never too late for a spy picture, and this
Mopar-powered Ford 100E is reportedly new addition to Pro ET in the UK, due to make its début
at the Run What You Brung at Santa Pod this weekend. If you know any more then E-Mails to the
usual address please.
13th August: York Raceway hosted its biggest event of the year, the UK Northern Nationals,
on 2nd-3rd August. With two rounds of American Super Stock, a round in each of the PDRC Northern Drag Racing Championships, the 31st
Street Racer Championship, as well as the Wild Bunch and Super Charged Outlaws, it was certainly an action packed weekend writes Richard
Smith:
12th August: Dave McKenzie tells us that Saturday's demo action at the Bulldog Bash was
a washout, but that a brilliant idea from his crewman Eddie saved the day at Shakespeare County Raceway:
12th August: The third round of the HKS Drag Series took place at Rotorstock 5 at Santa Pod Raceway
on Sunday. Congratulations to the winners:
Lucas Oil USA-backed Pro Mod driver and German record holder
Norbert Kuno had a lot of problems getting the power to the ground at Mantorp Park. "The
chassis had problems transferring the power and we didn't have the right set-up to go fast", says
Norbert. "It was possible, because other teams did it. For Hockenheim we have worked out a new
concept, working on the chassis and on the engine, and we will see if we go fast or slow."
Spencer Tramm asked us to say a big Thank You to Ingo and Sabine Rolla and Norbert and Iris Kuno for their
hospitality whilst in Mantorp Park. "It was an interesting weekend as I got to look at the computer traces from Norbert's car and ended
up being Brolly Dolly for Ingo", says Spencer. "I am very much looking forward to working with the Pro Mod racers again at Hockenheim."
12th August: Following 
10th August: Many thanks to Henriette Selles for sending us an English translation of
Thursday's press release from Dutch Pro Mod team 
8th August: Norwegian Top Methanol Dragster racer Paul Ingar Udtian and his
team pulled off the comeback of the year after a parachute failure at the Veidec Festival.
The Q8 Oils-sponsored dragster set a new distance record for going into the field at the end of
Mantorp Park's shutdown area and suffered some damage in a double roll, but with a titanic effort
by the team and the help of Paul Ingar's fellow racers the car was back on track the next day. Konrad
Ree got in touch to tell us how it went from the team's point of view:
Robert Lim was recently asked on behalf of the Lord High Chamberlain
to get some TV coverage for the new race track he's had built in the grounds of his castle in Cheshire. "With the help of Mike McCormack,
his head of communications, I arranged for a helicopter with a film crew aboard to race my car around the course", says Robert. "It was
very satisfying to lay rubber on a brand new track! The feature was shown in prime time by Granada Television and seems to have been
well received. The new venue is hosting a major new event this weekend, the 
8th August: The UK's Supercharged Outlaws started their mid-summer back-to-back weekends at York Raceway
last weekend, sponsored by Roy Wilding Race Cars. Dave McKenzie tells us that five cars made the trip and were joined at York by Mark Flavell
in his Super Pro ET Funny Car:
In de eindstrijd moest Meihuizen nota bene aantreden tegen de enige andere Nederlander in het veld, Robert Joosten
waardoor een eerste Nederlandse Pro Mod-overwinning bij voorbaat vaststond. Nagenoeg gelijktijdig reageerde het tweetal
op het verspringen van het licht en kreeg vervolgens ook nog allebei te maken met tireshake. Na een kleine 200 meter viel
echter voor Meihuizen het doek toen door een elektronisch probleem de motor stilviel en hij kansloos moest toezien hoe zijn
tegenstander van hem wegreed. Van teleurstelling mocht gezien het totaalresultaat echter geen sprake zijn. Een runner-up
positie, de hoogste klassering in een FIA EK-wedstrijd ooit, runner-up in het Zweeds Kampioenschap (de uitslag van de
wedstrijd was tevens de uitslag van deze titelstrijd), twee persoonlijke records en de op één na snelste rijder van het hele
weekend. Met zijn behaalde punten steeg Meihuizen naar de derde plaats in het FIA Europees Kampioenschap op slechts
één punt van Mikael Lindahl en zestien punten achter leider Joosten. Meihuizen kon dan ook tevreden terugkijken. "De
run tegen Lindahl was voor mij het absolute hoogtepunt van het weekend. Naast elkaar richting de finish en dan met zo'n
klein verschil winnen. Mikael stond ondanks zijn verlies ook te springen, zo gaaf vond hij het."
7th August: Despite ropey weather predictions Santa Pod Raceway hosted a fantastic Ultimate Street Car
event last weekend, writes Rick Cuthbert. Amazing variety on the track was once again a key feature of the show, with some of the wackiest
racers around including a twin-engine Mini Clubman, Fireblade powered sand buggy and a wheelie popping Reliant Robin taking part in the
Run What You Brung competition. Kev Slyfield, Rob Smallworth and John Sleath put on excellent drag demos, and we also spotted this
awesome Webster Race Engineering Jeep. The full report is now on-line at
6th August: Jo Peters of the 
6th August: FIA European Pro Modified Champion Micke Gullquist went to the Veidec
Festival at Mantorp Park with some new parts in his big Chevy, but he says that he was not worried that
the NordicLAN-sponsored team were not going to sort them out.
6th August: Regular readers of Eurodragster.com will know that Norwegian Supertwin
racer Hans Olav Olstad has had more than his fair share of bad luck in the past, most recently a bad
experience with bearings at the FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro. But Hans Olav and his team never give
up and went back to their original bearing set-up for the crank for the Veidec Festival at Mantorp
Park, where it unfortunately proceeded to go wrong again:
UK Rocket Dragster pilot Carolynne Campbell had an encounter with Rocket royalty when she met up
with Dick Keller, one of the names in rocket cars, who worked with Sammy Miller,
Chuck Suba, and the Land Speed Record-holding Blue Flame team amongst others. Dick was actually
in the UK to compete in a European Masters cycle race, but he made time in his busy schedule to chat
to Carolynne and husband David and to be interviewed on video by the Powerpoint Communications team.
You can read more on Carolynne's web site at
3rd August: Veidec Festival Pro Mod winner
3rd August: Finland's DB-Team Selkämaa Top Fuel Bike team had a great weekend
at Mantorp Park last week, despite some problems before the race, writes Kaija Kohtala:
3rd August: Eurodragster.com News sponsors 
UK blown-alcohol altered team 
3rd August: If you were tuned in to last weekend's Event Coverage from the
Veidec Festival you will know that Eurodragster.com US Correspondent Ed O'Connell joined us at
Mantorp Park, and we're not entirely sure that he has yet come down from his experiences in
Sweden: he was overwhelmed by the welcome and hospitality he received, even receiving a friendly
wave from Top Fuel Dragster racer Risto Poutiainen not far off the start line (right).
Ed has posted a number of his personal favourite shots from the Veidec Festival at
We know that amongst our readership we have a number of Land Speed Record fans, who will be interested
to hear that Team Stray Dogs are headed for Bonneville to attempt a record for a nitrous-assisted
Hayabusa. Murray Griffin tells us that the team are also attempting to raise money for the Riding
for the Disabled charity. You can read the team's Blog at
Dominic Romney has given his Modern Pics web site a makeover with Springspeed Nationals
and Nostalgia Nationals event galleries and Windows wallpaper, which you can find at
