Wednesday 4th September

• 08.00 – Signing on open
• 14.30 – 19.00 – Sportsman Car Scrutineering at the Scrutineering building

THURSDAY 5th September

• 07.00 – Signing on open
• 08.00 – 13.30 – Scrutineering for Sportsman Cars at the Scrutineering building
• 09.30 – Track open for Sportsman Qualifying
• 10.00 – 18.00 – Scrutineering for bikes at the Scrutineering building
• 14.30 – 20.00 – Scrutineering for FIA Classes                   

FRIDAY 6th September

• 07.00 – Signing on open
• 10.00 – Scrutineering for bikes at the Scrutineering building
• 09.30 – Track open for Sportsman Qualifying
• 08.00 – Scrutineering for Sportsman Cars at the Scrutineering building
• 13.00 – Pro Class Scrutineering (at pit bay) see additional list for details                                                

Three races in a five-week span decide the destinations of the FIA and FIM European Drag Racing Championships. August’s races at Tierp in Sweden and Hockenheim in Germany are completed and now the focus falls on Santa Pod Raceway. Race teams from across the continent will descend on the renowned venue on the Bedfordshire-Northamptonshire border to settle matters at the European Finals (5^th–8^th September).

Title contests on two and four wheels are underpinned by a national championship racing programme, while away from the track there’s an array of entertainments designed for family appeal.

The president of the Malta Motorsport Federation leads the way among the mighty Top Fuel Dragsters. Duncan Micallef, alias ‘The Maltese Lion’, already has one FIA Top Fuel championship to his name, earned in 2017, and looks set for his second provided he can fend off the challenge of Sweden’s Susanne Callin, championship runner-up for two seasons and eager to go one better now. Micallef set a new European speed record at 321.40mph during August’s Swedish race at Tierp. Swiss star Jndia Erbacher, herself a former European record holder, scored her maiden FIA victory at Hockenheim this past weekend piloting a Monster Energy-backed car blessed with the improbable nickname Jasmine.

Finland’s Tommi Haapanen resumes his driving career after tuning his wife Anita Mäkelä to four FIA Top Fuel championships and 2023’s FIA Top Methanol champion, Norwegian Linn Fløysvik, makes a second Top Fuel start two weeks after her Hockenheim debut.

Sharing the track with the FIA Pro Mods is the penultimate round of the Motorsport UK British Drag Racing Championship – two Pro Mod championships rolled into a single race. Reigning champion, Bedfordshire’s Bobby Wallace, bids to defend his title against Hampshire’s multi-champion Andy Robinson. The chase will conclude at the National Finals a fortnight hence.

FIA title chases in Top Methanol and Pro Stock are all but decided, but there is the prestige of race victory still to be sought.

On two wheels, nitro is the fuel of choice for the Top Fuel Bikes and the Super Twins. The blown four-cylinder Top Fuelers, such as Rikard Gustafsson’s astonishing 260mph multi-championship mount, emit an ear-drilling screech at full chat while the two-pot Super Twins growl and bark at the lower end of the register. Denmark’s Marcus Christiansen leads the Super Twin field while Sweden’s Per Bengtsson returns to Santa Pod after 13 years’ absence with his thundering machine, The Beast.

Pro Stock Bikes and Super Street Bikes also contend for their respective FIM-Europe crowns.

A special Euro Finals feature is Friday evening’s ‘twilight’ session in which the Top Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars join forces with the event’s exhibition Jet Cars to light up the dusk in spectacular fashion, topped by a full-scale firework display.

Elimination round four with Bruno Bader we decided to change the set up to a safe tune and we made great A to B run 5.95 @381km/h.

We are happy that car works great, and our hard work paid off. Now we need to strip the car and make fresh again before next weekend to be ready for the Euro Finals. Let's hope the track and weather is great for us to make some great runs and results at Santa Pod Raceway.

We would like to Thank all our crew, family and friends who has helped us make each event possible.

Melbourne Raceway's E.T bracket classes this year will be racing, Sportsman ET (up to 7.90), (Pro ET (6.90-7.89) and Pro Extreme (5.90-6.89) with dial-ins used on the Sportsman tree. There's also the NSCC Hot Rod Gazette heads up option for modified street legal cars. And for quicker cars that want to run a heads up pro tree, we have Pro Comp running a Cannonball style format with the two quickest running a shootout in the final.

Firestorm is back at Melbourne Raceway! Hot off the back of their trip to Germany they’ll be back burning up the strip at Melbourne. Get yourself here! 

Remember also we have Graham Sykes with the steam rocket bike! Julian with Spiderman and Split Second Jet Dragsters

If racers don't have a Motorsport UK or ACU licence for bike racers, a Nora licence is needed but can be purchased easily and cheaply at this link.

For more details on the car rules, click on this link. The No Mercy Bike series offers bracket racing opportunities to bikers, jnr bikes, scooters, Ultimate Street bikes for modified bikes, stock and 2 strokes, racing legends for the over 70s among others. For more details on the bike rules, click on this link..

Dragracing: Behind the scenes of the 37th NitrOlympX

The NitrOlympX, the German round of the FIA European Championship Drag Racing at the Rico Anthes Quartermile of the HockenheimRing, has come to an end. How this fourth match of the title race went and who walked away with the biggest trophies can be read elsewhere on AUTOSPORT.nl. Here's a quick look back at some other things that caught the eye in the pits, on the track or around the Motodrom.

You can read the full article by visiting this link. (Please note this report will be in Dutch, you can translate the page on most browsers.)

Using copies of Hot Rod magazine as a guide and the 1964 International Drag Festival at Blackbushe as inspiration, Brian and best mate Bob Venison built Wild Thing in his dad's garage for the princely sum of £127. It was based on a '55 Ford Pop that was bought from a scrapyard for £10, a sum that was recouped when they sold the car's engine and gearbox on for the same amount. In its first incarnation it was fitted with a Jag XK motor from a Mark X, while later it used a fuel-injected small-block.

Brian and Bob went their separate ways, but Brian carried on with Wild Thing for a few more years before turning to crew duties for Tony and Don Beadle, as well as other drivers through the 1970s.

Eurodragster chronicled Wild Thing in 2022 with two articles where Brian told the story which can be found by clicking this links:

Brian Gibson Story Part One

Brian Gibson Story Part Two

Brian had a leg amputation in 2021 and was diagnosed with Parkinson's in December 2023. The disease saw him progressively deteriorate over the past few months, although he still retained an interest in the drags, especially in the US.

It was a delight to have Rob Brown & Peter Brown along with Hayley Fyfe and Natalie Long with us for a second year, their display keeps on getting better each time and are such great ambassadors for our sport. Also back was Wayne Allman and Helen Allman with support from Lee Pike & Donna Sayce making everyone scratch their heads thinking what is that when they tried to figure out what Mental Breakdown was all about. They got it when the fire-ups commenced and my only video I took over the whole weekend with a special guest in the hot seat. 

Simon Prest & Jason Pickett represented the Gasser Circus and had a great time, I loved their side-by-side fire-ups, and I could see in their faces that they were both ready to go into stage and race. Lee Johnstone and the whole family brought Volvo Gasser - Ain't No Saint along to the show and boy does that car deserve respect. It was great telling the crowd the Hot Wheels story and of course everyone now knows why it certainly Ain’t no saint!!! I took Bruce along, but numpty here got home on Friday and somehow left the ignition on overnight so flat battery in the morning meant I couldn’t start the car but put it on charge and back on Sunday.

For the first at the show we had the bikes represented. Craig Wright bought his championship contending 8.50 machine and with Kat Rudd they promoted themselves superbly. The bike looks so sharp, made me chuckle every time Craig fired the bike up and when bring the revs up, he crouched down as if he were about to launch!!! We had not 1 but 2 Top Fuel bikes with Ryan Davidson and Phil Crossley bringing their Nitro bikes along. Over 1000hp each these bikes were just jaw dropping, especially when Ryan whacked the throttle open and made everyone jump. The guys were inundated with questions all event long and total respect to these 2 guys, fair to say i think you left a lasting impression.

Talking of Nitro, this was our first year entertaining the crowds with our magic ingredient. The fuel of Gods didn’t go unnoticed, Simon Hayward and the Houndog Nostalgia Funny Car were a huge talking point of the event with the team performing two superb fire-ups on Sunday.

Simon and the team were fielding questions all event long and to see the new team work together was great. I look forward to the car running into the 6’s and they certainly deserve some great numbers.

Their second show was just as awesome and in front of a huge gathering. It’s fascinating watching and getting people’s reaction to these monsters, yep, they loved it. They had so many visitors and I absolutely loved having the team there…. you guys rock.

We couldn’t have pulled this all together without the team’s willingness to come along. We couldn’t put on the show we did this year without the phenomenal support from everyone at Santa Pod Raceway. We had an idea or 2 and it worked and to have the support of our second home was appreciated. I hope we represented the sport well and if we can get just 1% of the people that seen us come to the European Finals then we’re going to need bigger grandstands!!!

The hours you and I had on FaceTime planning this event over the last 8 months, the emails we both sent but I had the easy job of getting the teams. You had the paperwork, the tickets, the negotiating, the camping, the electrics, the vehicle passes…. the list goes on. I think the racing family and of course the Hot Rod family as Tim organised that whole side of our content as well, owe you a large drink but don’t have it all at once….

I honestly loved it, I’m tired, shattered, exhausted but would I do it again…. probably but not for a few days eh!!

Oh….and just in case you didn’t already know we were aware were awarded with the Mervyn Garton Scarf & Goggles Award for the best off-track visitor attraction. That means so much to us and I’m so proud of what we achieved. 

The European Finals 2024 for me in just 9 days’ time, look forward to seeing you and hopefully loads of newbies there.

The British Drag Racing Historians are proud to present part four of the Wally Parks stories. Originally posted on the 26th January. In today's extract of Wally Parks detailed journal relating to the First British International Drag Festival Wally takes a look at the race meetings and as Wally says... ‘The wide open airfields were reminiscent of the early 1950s in the United States, and often cows grazed next to the airfields. The fans were innocent and wide-eyed, stands were crammed with spectators and the usual drag racing hijinks were in vogue. The story which you can see by clicking here

While it appeared that everything went smoothly with fans flocking to the Festival making it financially successful, not everything went well.

This year is the 60th anniversary of the First British International Drag Festival and this part includes the selection of American drivers to join the trip to England, the involvement of the British Drag Racing Association and Drag Festivals Ltd, the RAC forbidding any advertising on race cars and a tentative schedule for shipping and lodging.

Jndia Erbacher, Jonny Lagg, Andres Arnover and Jimmy Ålund winners at NitrOlympX

Jndia Erbacher raced to victory in the Top Fuel final of the NitrOlympX, round four of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship at the Rico Anthes Quartermile of the HockenheimRIng. In Pro Modified Andres Arnover claimed his first win of the season by defeating Bruno Bader. In the Top Methanol final Jonny Lagg was too quick for A-Fuel Team Sweden teammate Tony Bryntesson and extended his lead in the championship. In Pro Stock Jimmy Ålund remained undefeated and claimed his third winner’s trophy of the season.

You can read the full article by visiting this link.

FIM-E NitrOlympX ends with Smith, Christiansen, Mechaell, Lymant and Willcox on the top step

The NitrOlympX came to a close today for the five contested FIM-E categories. Some spectacular runs, track records and some personal bests along the way, and not a little controversy/confusion.

You can read the full article by visiting this link.

Jndia Erbacher, Sandro Bellio, Andres Arnover and Jimmy Ålund number one qualifiers at Hockenheim

It was at least to say a hot and eventful second day of qualifying for the NitrOlympX at the Rico Anthes Quartermile of the HockenheimRing, round four of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship. Friday leaders Jndia Erbacher (Top Fuel), Sandro Bellio (Top Methanol) and Jimmy Ålund (Pro Stock) remained in the number one position, while in Pro Modified Andres Arnover took over the number one spot. So drivers from four different countries will lead their respective categories into today's eliminations.

You can read the full article by visiting this link.

Having spoken with Jeff and Belinda Bull back in June at The Sportsman Nationals about the opportunity of joining them in 7.60 Heads Up in 2025, who ever thought we would bring it forward to this year! Watching them run made me think about getting the car retagged at that event, and the process began to get everything legal. With plenty of encouragement from Mark Turner, I went ahead and applied for an MSA license. Once that arrived, things were starting to get real! During the Sportsman Nationals we saw consistent 8.0’s, but I felt the need to hit at least a 7.9 before I felt eligible to join in with the fun

We had done it! Less than a week later we were loaded up and heading back up to our second home for the Greenlight Nationals. What a fantastic, packed weekend around a great class this proved to be. My first ever competition heads up style, including a pro tree! First run I decided to switch on a 3^rd fuel pump as data logs from The Mopar’s were showing high injector duty cycles. This caused issues that I think were quite likely voltage related as the car almost died mid track. We ran a 10.2@132mph after lifting mid track. Back in the pits, there was nothing to read on the data log to show what had happened. Being the fuel pump switch was the only change, I turned it off and went back out in Q2 to run back into the 7’s with a 7.95@171mph whilst still running the scramble button to bring in 16psi boost out the back half of the track.

That was until Belinda ran immediately behind me and knocked me down a peg, or was it two?  Sunday morning going into Q4 Monika had told me I needed to back it up. It was there, a 7.68@173mph. These runs had a slight pop out the back doors, most likely still power related, so if I was going to find anything for eliminations, it had to be at the front of the track. A few tweaks to the boost duty ramp and another 100rpm on the two step. There I was, no pressure up against the leader again, Mark Turner. No time to sleep, I cut a 0.08 light against Marks 0.11. Unfortunately, I jolted off the throttle pedal when letting go of the trans brake button and it was game over. All I could do was chase! We ended with a 7.79@175mph lose against Marks 7.62. If only I hadn’t slipped up, would he have broken out with a huge lift at the finish line? That we will never know! Great judging and what a finish for him winning 2024. This class is amazing. Will we be back…..110%

Thanks to Nitro Revival sponsor Geoff Stilwell for sending in part 1 of his report on a successful trip to Bonneville Speedweek earlier in August:

You know people say to me, ‘How come you haven’t been faster...you got a top fuel motor in the back of your race car?” My answer is, “get a car and come and try”.

To try and give you some idea on logistics, although the team have only just returned from a very successful Speedweek we are already planning what needs to be done to the race car after the last race of the year which is happening on November 8th-10th at El Mirage just outside Los Angeles.

Latest developments with the "Force of Nature" Steam Rocket Bike...

We are using 2024 as a test year for the new rocket motor which we first tested at Straightliners Speed Week in May at Elvington with particularly good results.

Contrary to what many think, with the new Pressure vessel, we have not gone for larger capacity.... in fact the latest tank is a little smaller than what we ran with in 2023 because of installation constraints.

We have fitted a comprehensive AIM Technologies data acquisition system to the rocket and can now stop guessing what we "think" is happening and confirm what is "actually" happening. The results we have captured make for some interesting analysis.

The valves were soured and supplied by a great friend and former Hydrogen Peroxide rocket car driver in America, John Alan Hudson, who drove the Texas Starship rocket car, which is now in the Garlitts museum, and has been invaluable to the team with his knowledge and continued help.

The main valves need to open as quickly as possible, and we suspected that the new valve system would open in under 0.5 of a second. In fact with a full pressurised tank and fuel load from the data we have now got, they are opening in 0.18 of a second and this is reflected in the 60 ft times we are now achieving.

The best 60 ft from last year was 0.91 seconds at Santa Pod European Finals, but the new systems best data 60 ft is 0.831 seconds @86 mph giving us 95 mph in the first second. that’s a 0 to 60 mph in 0.56 seconds or 4.75 G force. Similar acceleration to a top fuel car.

According to our data the acceleration is brief lasting only 3 seconds but the 330 time is 2.22 seconds and a 3.41 660 ft@ 185.8 mph so you can see the power is already tailed off by the 1/8th but have still coasted to a 6.1 second 1/4 mile @171mph. 

For 2025 CPE Pressure vessels have agreed to manufacture a larger vessel which I have designed with slightly different outlets that will give the bike a calculated 4 seconds of power duration and better power delivery, which should make the bike a 5 second 1/4-mile runner and hopefully crack 200 mph which has always been the target. 

Please make yourselves known in our pit area, and we can give you more information on the bike and how it works. If you have never seen the bike run, then you are missing something special.  Never underestimate the power of Steam!

After seeing George Brown’s ‘Nero’ sprint bike at the 1960 Motorcycle Show Brian joined the National Sprint Association, soon becoming Competitions Secretary running the Sprint Meetings. He met Allan Bootsie Herridge and Brian Witty early in 1962 and joined them on a trip to Long Marston with their home-built Chrysler hemi Dragster with plans to take on Sydney Allard in his Chrysler Dragster. Brian then teamed up with Bootsie, John Harrison and Robin Evemy to form Dragster Developments building and running a straight 8 Buick Dragster followed by a state-of-the-art Cadillac slingshot and a smaller Austin powered slingshot.

Brian also joined the British Hot Rod Association and the British Drag Racing Association soon working on the committees of all three associations and was told he would not get away with it, but Brian was able to get along with anybody by simply playing along. As Brian said... “By playing along you would get things done, that was the main thing. Whether you had to prostitute yourself to do it, it got done.”

As always, qualifying in ET Bike was tight, with Phil and "Satan's Lady" going into race day from the 3rd spot. Sunday was warm and windy, and the track was in great condition. There was a big crowd on hand, courtesy of the Monster Truck Nationals, as "Satan's Lady" went through to her 3rd final of the season.

It certainly wasn't an easy journey, but in ET Bike there is never an easy pairing. When we looked at the ladder, we realised that we could potentially go head-to-head with points leader Scott Collier... and that could prove to be crucial if we were to keep any Championship hopes alive.

Another win light secured a place in the Final round, where we faced Gary Hester. talk about deja vu, these two have met so many times, and it's always a great race... and this was to be no different!

After being held on the line until the seagulls decided to vacate their spot on the track, the lights flashed down and both racers cut 0.9 lights, and were side-by-side the entire quarter, both were 100th of a second off their dial-in... with the victory going to Gary with a win margin of just 0.003 of a second, or 7.16 inches!!!!!

As always, we have to say a huge Thank You the SPRC guys and girls for everything they do to ensure a great event, also to our classmates who make ET Bike such a great class to be a part of.

Before we finish, we would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the incredibly brave Jack Gooding who sadly lost his lifelong battle with Cancer early on Sunday morning. Race In Paradise Jack... You will be missed.

We have a few weeks off now, before the National Finals... where it really is all to race for!!

Thanks again for your continued support and encouragement... it really is appreciated.

Phil, Suze, and Pat ~ Saluting "Fame's Favoured Few"

Thought we would give an update on our recent 7.60 HU event at the Greenlight Nationals, after finishing the summer nationals on a high, making progress and running more consistently towards where we want to be, we ran into quite different issues that we have never come across. 

We decided to finish painting the car, polishing the wheels, and giving the car a polish and finally, putting new slicks on… which then came the issues. 

We purchased the tires around a year ago after leaving them in storage for a while, we decided to put them on, pulled round for our first qualifier of the weekend and then the car was bouncing around violently leaving us having to fight the car down the track to put a number on the board… 7.77. 

To top it off, we are now the proud owners of the 'late light clock' where Kev had a little nap handing the win to Rob. 

On to the next meeting where we are competing in Comp Eliminator at the Euro finals hoping to get back to making progress, all in all a frustrating weekend but we are incredibly happy with how the car looks, and now we need to back it up with performance. 

Once the season ends, we will go about a much-needed engine upgrade that has been in the planning stage for around 5 years, in conjunction with ICE. 

Those if you who don’t know, the engine we have under the ‘sumo’ rules has been the same combination that was built in 2002.

By ICE for Steve Rawlings, therefore you can imagine it is much needed to be able to compete with the competitive field that exists in Comp Eliminator today, and it is safe to say we have got the most out of the current combination. 

There was a long sleepy wait to run the quarter finals after a track emergency, with everyone keen to go once racing reconvened. Sadly, Jordon Griffin was a bit too enthusiastic and red lit, leaving Pete Walters to go through to the Semi Finals where he would be meeting Troy Attree. Stef Pateman broke out in the closely fought race with Troy Attree. Cruelly for Jane McCready she red lit, which sent Dave Cherrett through even though he broke out. Dave would meet Kirstie Tramm in the semi-finals, after she caught and passed Alan Medley quickly.

With four experienced racers in the semi-finals who will earn the coveted spaces in the finals. The pairing of Pete Walters and Troy Attree, both in Camaro Z28’s, were almost identical. Troy Attree reacted better, putting the pressure on Pete Walters, who broke out giving us our first finalist.

It was not the final anyone wanted. Sadly, for Troy Attree he handed the winner’s trophy to Kirstie Tramm after he rolled through the beams. Both were deserving of a win, but that’s racing! Congratulations Kirstie, and commiserations Troy, there will be a next time.

It was a very notable event; lots of numbers being hit, PB’s and other milestones, so well done to all in Sportsman ET for another competitive and challenging event. The class makes inroads at every meeting, with more racers and closer racing. Only one more chance to do it this year at the National Finals, when we will see who will be crowned Class Champion of 2024.

FIM-E fields head to a hot Hockenheim for the NitrOlympX

The filling in the middle of a frentic triple header over four weeks, the NitrOlympX on the fabled Rico Anthes Quartermile within the spectacular Hockenheimring is always a much anticipated event. The 2024 version, taking place 23rd – 25th August, is no different.

You can read the full article by visiting this link.

Speedy’s use up some luck but are heading to a solution

Mid-season modifications almost caught out Marcus Christiansen and father Claus (Speedy) at the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals in Sweden, but they managed to emerge with their win streak (extending back to 2022) in FIM-E Super Twin Bike intact. Marcus provides the following update and look ahead.

You can read the full article by visiting this link.

Ida Zetterstrom posted on her Facebook page about her semi round at Lucas Oil NHRA, Ida writes:

Started the day off with a huge first round holeshot win against Steve Torrence but ended the day with a tough semi final loss against Shawn Langdon today.

I messed up as a driver by pulling a massive red light. First time I’ve ever red lit in a Top Fuel car and it is hard to explain - my mind did not want to leave yet but my leg had other plans and smashed that throttle way to early. I’ve heard about this from many drivers but never had it happen to me, now I understand it.
I guess it was a weekend of first in many ways.

At the conclusion of qualifying 13 of the 15 Gassers present had posted times which would see them in the show on Sunday, with only Ian Turberville missing out in his Bad Blood barracuda, the car reluctant to unleash the power in its blown motor and Ray Irish in his Blown Gas Junkie Willys. Ray had made it down on the first qualifying session, but a misfire meant that he made use of the return road. Ray spent the rest of the day chasing the misfire, but he is a racer never to be beat, and with the sun beginning to sink he was still seeking the source.

Out on the track it was time for the Wheelie competition, among those shooting for the sky were 3 Gasser Circus cars. First up was Sean Milsom in his wicked Ain’t Misbehavin Morris Van, Sean treated everyone to not just one but two wheelies rapidly followed by flirting with the centre line. Despite being first up that was going to take some beating. Unfortunately Martyn Hallam in his Hallam, Hallam & Couch 33 Willy's and Steve Matthews in is Honky Tonkin 57 Chevy were nowhere near the wheels up action they normally supply. Mike Couch suggesting it looked like they ran over a pebble!

A crazy score of 8 from one of the judges at the end, saw Sean knocked off the top spot, with him dropping to the runner up spot.

Sunday arrived and so did a cure for the misfire for Ray Irish, which on one hand was brilliant and on the other too late, to race.

Round 1 of eliminations got underway the pairings were

No 1 Qualifier Brian Gibson in his Identity Crisis Dodge on a bye.

Sam had dialed 10.43 and I had 11.30, when we crossed the line at the end Sam was ahead, but I had the win light. I had run my second PB of the weekend with 11.13, a breakout but Sam had also done the same but by a bigger margin with 10.24.

Next up was Simon Prest in his Rocket Mercury and Steve Matthews in his 57. When the two cars stopped the clocks they too had both broken out. Steve taking the win. Slowly those that had already run came to the realisation that the track was performing far better than on Saturday as PB’s and breakouts were now King.

Jason Hollamby - Jumpin Jalapeno and Martyn Hallam in his 33 were next to race and again we had a break out for Martyn but he took the win as Jason left a tad too early.

Harvey Turner in his Nurse Stoner Nova, prepared to race Chris Layram in his Outa Gas Pop Harvey staying the right side of his dial in as Chris strayed the wrong side of his with a 10.10 on a 10.20.

At 1.30 the Gassers were once again in the fire up road for the quarterfinals. First up was The Traitor Pop with me behind the wheel with Steve Matthews in the right hand lane. At the end of the race it became clear that I had been treed with Steve on 0.046 to my shameful 0.322.

Steve dialed in 9.64 and Harvey 10.85 at the end where the win light goes on it was in Steve’s lane having run 10.00 to Harvey’s losing 11.23.

Sean in his van dialed 10.11 and Martyn choosing to dial 9.85. This was going to be a close one, and so it was but Martyn had a hole-shot over Sean which he turned into a win with a 0.020 reaction time to Sean’s 0.204.

The final was now set and an hour later the Gassers were ready to race and the Gasser Circus crews and drivers eliminated were waiting to see who would come out on top.

Saturday morning Mark Luton rebuilt and reset the clutch as we’d had issues at Dragstalgia. We went through the warm-ups and then towed down to the start line. I was a little concerned as it was a fresh set up and Mark had done some aggressive changes to the finger weights on the Titon clutch. This was slightly unusual and out of character for Mark, but a calculated change of approach, which I respected. However, I was still a little apprehensive. Anyway, we had a game plan to build the rpm up as high as possible to the point where the car would drag me through the beams, risking a red light. So strapped in, caution to the wind and time to do my bit. 

I left the line with a little tyre shake, and drifted towards the centre line, so changed gear instantly. It felt good, so into high gear and I ran the car through. At the top end I did expect a low 7 at 198mph – or thereabouts.  I pulled the car round at the top end and waited for my tow back. The top end crew were there to help as always, but never said anything to me about me having done the 200. 

My team arrived as normal. They never said a thing about me having done the 200. Nothing. Not a word. I eventually asked, “how did it go?”  All of them said I’d run a 7.2 second pass. So, in my mind I instantly thought I hadn’t done the 200.  Then they dropped the bombshell and said I’d done 202mph over the finish line. I had no words. We were all “high fiving,” hugging and cheering. The penny dropped when I realised, we’d done it. I was elated and emotional.

We – had – done – it!!!!!! 

Back to the Pits and now to prepare for the second run. Mark Luton did a slight fuel change, and we got ourselves back to the Start line. I burned out, staged, and ran the car as before.  Again at the top end I was waiting for the boys to tow me back, and I had no clue as to what I’d run. They told me I’d done 199.91mph and my immediate feeling was that it was highly likely another low 7. My team (the crafty b@*$ds) said you’ve done a 6.969 second pass. I felt as good as I did after the first run. WOW! The words out of my mouth to the b@*$ds were that we HAD to get the 200 and the 6 together... and that was our aim from that point. The third run was close at 6.954 seconds at 199mph. 

Sunday morning and the first run saw perfect weather and a perfect track. We got the “Golden Ticket” of 6.88 seconds at 203.48mph. Hallelujah! When I heard the news, I felt 20 years old again with the world at my feet. Not bad for a Brummy approaching 70 years old! The following run was 7.0 seconds at 201mph, and then I got to the Finals of the Supercharged Outlaws, which we won. From memory I did a low 7 at 199mph. What a weekend! 

4 cars going into the semi-finals battling out for a place in the finals; Dave Billadeau VS Pete Christmas, and Allan Matthews VS Rick Denny. Dave was closer to his dial in than Pete meaning he reserved his spot, and a close race between Rick and Allan saw Allan bang on his dial in and into the finals.

So here we have the finals of the 30th Mopar Euro nationals; Dave Billadeau in his freshly built ‘All Fired Up’ Plymouth Duster and Allan Matthews in his beautifully turned out red Mach 1 Mustang. Allan broke out, running an 11.23 on an 11.27, meaning Dave took the winning prize money and expertly painted air filter lid trophies supplied by Goodale American Speedshop and painted by Craig Ainge Traditional Signwriter!

The following teams attending are:

• Rob Brown, Wrathchild Slingshot dragster, Wild Bunch 
• Pete Brown, Rebel slingshot dragster, Wildbunch & Super Pro ET 
• John Bean, Shotgun Mustang, Pro ET 
• John Bean, Shotgun Mustang 2.0 (class t.b.c.) 
• Simon Prest, The Rocket, Mercury Comet, Gasser Circus.
• Jason Pickett, Cherry Bomb 55 Chevy, Gasser Circus/Pro ET
• Frankie Taylor, Banshee Altered, Pro ET/Wild Bunch 
• Wayne Allman, Mental Breakdown VW, Supercharged Outlaws. 
• Kai Cooper, Junior Dragster 
• Jake Cooper, Junior Dragster. 
• Tim Moore, Super Gas 55 Chevy. 
• Matt Davison, FWD Honda Civic ‘Mr Boost’ 
• Kev Jenkins, Fraudster 
• Craig Wright, 8.50 bike 
• Aaron Fensome, Super Pro dragster 
• Victoria Smith, Buick Street Eliminator 
• Grace Smith, Boost Monkey Junior Dragster 
• Patrik Peers, Speedghost F/C 
• Lee Johnstone ‘Ain’t no Saint’ Volvo gasser 
• Phil Crossley, Top Fuel Bike. 

If the Silverstone Festival wasn’t enough to organise for the bank holiday weekend, Tim along with Nigel Lockley have been pulling together an amazing display for Carfest. Another batch of amazing Hot Rods will feature strongly at this years event but for the first time ever, Drag Racing will be a major feature with 9 teams attending and like Silverstone some will be firing up including Ada Cassisi with her Junior Dragster, Mark Coulsell’s Ballbreaker Slingshot, Barry Giles and the Giles and Hartley dragster and none other than Kev Slyfield and the team with the Blown Bird Pro Mod!!!

Carfest is all about the parade laps as well as the live music and taking part will be Warren Watts and Pete Dodd with their Camaros, Dave Russell with the ‘Van with no Name’, Mark Sheridan’s Twin Turbo Cuda and crowd favourite Justin Woolner and his Vermin’s Diner Rat Rod.

We are indebted to every team that has given up their bank holiday weekend to help promote our incredible sport and a huge thank you to everyone at Santa Pod Raceway for their incredible support of these 2 huge shows. Please visit the website links for more information about each event.

Linn Fløysvik has announced this week on Facebook this update:

"What an unforgettable weekend at Tierp Arena! After a lot of hard work and dedication from the entire team, I finally earned the Top Fuel licence.

Top Fuel is absolutely brutal, but the thrill was beyond words. I’m incredibly grateful to Nitro Vikings for making this possible."

• COMPETITION_ELIMINATOR - Niklas Heikkila (6,666/297.2kph) def. Per Mikkelsen (7,058/275.8kph).
• JUNIOR_DRAGBIKE - Indy Lyren (10,993/90.0kph) def. Jone Holm (7,120/149.5kph) Breakout.
• JUNIOR_DRAGSTER - Julian Guttzeit (8,045/128.7kph) def. Lina Andersson (7,922/132.3kph) Breakout.
• PET - Petri Pakkinen (11,148/185.8kph) def. Riina Raussi (14,70/153.5kph) Breakout.
• PRO_COMP_BIKE - Peter Rundstrom (7,612/272.5kph) def. Niilo Sieppi (7,680/291.0kph).
• PRO_ET - Sophia Sandström
• PRO_MODIFIED_CAR - Jere Rantaniemi (7,821/304.2kph) def. Roger Johansson.
• PRO_STOCK_CAR - Jimmy Alund (6,555/340.3kph) def. Robun Noren (6,620/336.2kph).
• PRO_STOCK_MOTORCYCLE - Joerg Lymant (7,265/288.2kph) def. Bertrand Maurice (7,267/296.2kph).
•  

• PRO_STREET - Ossi Oikarinen (7,607/285.3kph) def. Lars Berglund (7.580/293.0kph) Breakout.
• SPET - Isak Lagg (7,789/264.7kph) def. Kristina Nygren (8,225/261.6kph).
• STOCKSUPER_STOCK - Rick McCann (9,814/216.2kph) def. Markus Svensson (10,800/196.8kph).
• STREET - Martin Haggstrom (8,591/249.3kph) def. Patrik Wickman (8,581/241.4kph) Breakout.
• SUPER_CLASS - Mats Karlson (9,920/219.7kph) def. Ake Tornqvist (11,075/187.0kph).
• SUPER_COMP_BIKE - Mats Damberg (8,567/252.8kph) def. Samual Rundstorm (8,540/251.8kph).
• SUPER_GAS_BIKE - Tor-øivind Enger Østgaard (9,529/222.4kph) def. Jesper Jerresten (9,615/233.3kph).
• SUPER_PRO_ET - Isak Lagg

We had a mix of Nostalgia Eliminator, Gasser Circus and Nostalgia Superstock cars entered into the bracket competition, in which racers had a chance to win vouchers that could be redeemed with GAS and beautiful trophies which were hand painted by Craig Ainge. There was also Run What Ya Brung sessions available throughout the day, and several cars were there taking advantage of this, along with members of outlaw street who were competing for a £50 best reaction time prize.

We kicked things off with a drivers meeting in the GAS pits and handing out the racers goodie bags, which included exclusive event T-shirts and freebies from Lucas Oil who supported the event. Next it was back to the cars to prep for the first two test sessions, in which random pairings were picked by our trusty young assistants!

Into the first round, where half the cars got knocked out but had the option to buy back in for a chance to continue racing. After the buy back round, 14 cars were still in the race; all 3 classes being paired up together made for some great racing!

Into the quarter finals, and we had NSS racers Lee ‘Cookie’ Chiles and Gary Cork up first, with Cookie taking the win. Ty Strevett had a bye run into the semi finals, and Phil Hobson won against Nostalgia Eliminator racer Paul Marston. Adrian Portelli defeated Gasser Circus racer Chris Layram with the ‘Outta Gas’ Pop, and we had our 2 pairings for the semis.

In the semi finals, Adrian defeated Phil Hobson running closer to his dial in, and Ty red lit handing the win to Cookie.

The two racers who got knocked out of the semis had one more race to do in order to decide who won the third and fourth place prizes, so Ty and Phil came back around and lined up at the start line once more. Phil did a stonking run; an 0.06 reaction time meant he got away quick, then running a 12.3531 on a 12.35 dial in meant Ty’s 11.48 second pass wasn’t close enough to his index.

As for our finalists, we had Cookie in the NSS Valiant and Adrian in his freshly built NE Polara. Adrian ran a 10.21 on a 10.19 dial in, but Cookie ran too quick for his index, breaking out with a 9.97 on a 9.99 dial in - all the fun of bracket racing! This meant that on his debut weekend, Adrian Portelli took the first place prize at the GAS Bash 2024, and Cookie the runner up award!

With only eight races to make her mark, Zetterström knows she’s got to go full throttle from the start. Embracing her new home in the U.S., and with a tongue-in-cheek nod to the American political battle dominating the news cycle, Zetterström’s campaign is firing on all cylinders as she prepares to make her grand debut alongside her JCM Racing teammate Tony Schumacher. She’s on a mission to set off win lights and win over the hearts and minds of NHRA enthusiasts in hopes that a solid fanbase will work in her favor when it’s time for members of the media to cast their ballots for NHRA’s Rookie of the Year in November.
 
That’s why she’s hitting Brainerd International Raceway with a grassroots campaign replete with all of the requisite garb. Zetterström and her Jon Schaffer-led Top Fuel team will be giving away “Zetterström for 2024 Rookie of the Year” pins, stickers, and yard signs throughout the weekend. Merchandise celebrating the Zetterström/Schaffer ticket will be available at the NHRA Nitro Mall, and a campaign ad featuring the Indianapolis resident is set hit the social media airwaves this afternoon. On Saturday following the final qualifying session for the penultimate event of NHRA’s regular season, Zetterström will ‘hit the campaign trail’ with her JCM Racing teammates. They will caravan through Brainerd International Raceway’s iconic “Zoo” in order to help drum up support for the candidate who is up against a loaded field of hopefuls vying for NHRA’s coveted ‘Road to the Future’ honors. Zetterström is looking forward to shaking hands and taking selfies with some of drag racing’s most loyal fans while the NHRA on FOX cameras capture her multiple campaign stops throughout the massive campground.

Thanks for Remco Scheelings from Drag Racing Europe for this report on FIM-E Scandinavian Internationals at Tierp Arena.

Despite a couple of showers to interpret the schedule, the full set of FIM-E eliminations was completed at the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals at Tierp Arena just north of Stockholm, Sweden. The knockout phase produced some surprises, some superb racing and some movement in the points as the European championship heads into its home stretch over the next month with two events remaining.

You can read the full article by visiting this link.

The Hayley Hadfield Perfect ET Award supported by Andy Hadfield has been reset to £50 after it was won by Rob Cawthorne at the Mopar Euro Nationals. The money will be paid to the first racer at the event to run +0.000 on index or dial-in. The Hayley Hadfield Perfect ET Award is available in Peter Nee Super Pro ET, Modurstang Pro ET, Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET, W.A. Watts Automotive Super Comp, Tony Morris Carburetors Super Gas, Pro Race Engineering VW Pro, Quantum Leap Racing VW Sportsman, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster, JKE Race Works 8.50 Bike, Atlantic Fluid Tech 9.50 Bike, Warpspeed Racing ET Bike and Eurodragster.com Junior Drag Bike. But will only be awarded for the first Perfect ET of the weekend. The Perfect ET Award is presented in association with Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield of the Twister Race Team in memory of his late wife Hayley.

Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect ET Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com decals are available in Signing On or from Eurodragster.com staff.

Congratulations to the winners at Mopar Euro Nationals held at Santa Pod Raceway over the weekend:

• Gasser Circus - Steve Matthews (9.69) 9.7108/132.43 def. Martyn Hallam (9.88) 9.9033/130.23
• Nostalgia Super Stock - Dave Billadeau (10.29) 11.2351/118.98 def. Allen Matthews (11.27) 10.3412/131.28
• Street Eliminator - Russell Pursley 9.1586/143.95 def. James Murray 9.6108/140.27
• Nostalgia Eliminator - Mark Wilson (11.28) 11.3851/121.39 def. Vic Parsons (9.74) 9.8860/136.11

If you've a report on the race you'd like us to include, contact us by clicking here.

Duncan Micallef, Sandro Bellio, David Vegter and Jimmy Ålund number one qualifiers at Summit Racing Equipment Internationals.

Although there were several improvements on day two of qualifying for the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals at Tierp Arena, three of the four Friday leaders remained in the number one position. Thus Duncan Micallef is the number one qualifier in Top Fuel with 3.791 seconds, David Vegter in Pro Modified and Jimmy Ålund in Pro Stock and they will lead their respective categories into Sunday’s eliminations of round three of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship. Top Methanol was the only class with a new leader after day two as Sandro Bellio stormed to a great 5.50 seconds to take over the lead from Jonny Lagg.

You can read the full article by visiting this link.

Susanne Callin, Jonny Lagg, Jere Rantaniemi and Jimmy Ålund winners at Tierp Arena

Susanne Callin raced to victory by defeating Duncan Micallef in the Top Fuel final for the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals at Tierp Arena, round three of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship. In Top Methanol Jonny Lagg won the final over Johnny Oksa, while Jere Rantaniemi and Jimmy Ålund claimed the wins in Pro Modified and Pro Stock.

You can read the full article by visiting this link.

Please follow this link for the updated 2024 FIA EUROPEAN DRAG RACING CHAMPIONSHIP points.

After the first day of FIA and FIM-E qualifying at the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals held at Tierp from 8^th-11^th August, the top qualifying positions were provisionally held as follows:

Top Fuel Dragster: Duncan Micallef: 3.7912/517,24kph (321.398mph) – New PBs and new FIA speed record subject to ratification
Top Methanol: Jonny Lagg, 5.3437/440.46
Pro Modified: David Vegter. 5.8427/389.89
Pro Stock Car: Jimmy Ålund, 6.5624/340.91
Top Fuel Bike: Rikard Gustafsson (5.7799/409.40)
Super Twin Bike: Marcus Christiansen (6.1302/364.37)
Pro Stock Motorcycle: Joerg Lymant (7.1334/297.85)
Super Street Bike: Alan Morrison Jnr (6.8740/352.25)

This weekend's Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been added due to no winners at Bug Jam '37, £50 has been set. The money will be paid to the first racer at the event to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available in all classes during both qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with Cath and Tig Napier of Modurstang Pro ET team Bad Habit Racing.

Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com decals are available in Signing On or from Eurodragster.com staff.

With sunny weather at the weekend the staff and marshalls at Melbourne have done a great job.

JUNIORS: 

In the semi’s William Mountford made it through to the final beating Alfie Barraclough and Maisie Thornton, who’d been lowering her times by big chunks throughout qualifying, held it all together to beat Arron Gregory. Come the final and Maisie had her best race head on and trounced William to take a well deserved win.

SCOOTERS NO MERCY:

First semi saw Amy Wolstenholme beat a hard charging Stuart McVicker and Paul Gurney went through when Eric Cope pulled an uncharacteristic red light. In the final Paul gave his all but Amy just edged him at the line to carry on what she did in her junior days.

JUNIOR SPRINT CAR:

Semi’s saw Jude Elliott beat Toby Jackson and Dexter Wilson, who’d had one or two problems in qualifying, get it all together to beat Bradley Brook Dexter then taking a close run final win against Jude.

6SEC CLASS:

Jamie Brooks took a bye into the final after Peter Slater encountered an electrical glitch that couldn’t be fixed in time and Maxine Taylor beat Ian Wicks. In the final it was all over for Maxine as she released the clutch a fraction early and put on the red light giving Jamie his first well deserved win.

STRAIGHTLINERS NO MERCY SHOOTOUT:

With an 18 bike field there were some hard fought races with Phil Wood back and having some great side by side runs with Peter Slater. Though there were no side by side 5sec runs Phil ended up with a new personal best just shy of Peter’s 5.63sec 2wheel record.

NSCC:

Steve Gilmour made it through to both Saturday and Sunday’s finals being beaten by Derek Beck on Saturday and just losing out to Gary Bird on Sunday.

PRO ET:

Bob Molden beat Andy Rounthwaite, Bob within 0.04sec of his dial in and Andy within 0.09sec of his so Bob could quite easily have broken out.

Land Speed Racer and Nitro Revival sponsor Geoff Stilwell got back to the track yesterday after an evening of celebrating his new record set on Monday.

A highlight of Tuesday was receiving the official record holder decal. On track, the car continued to perform with a recorded speed of 264.418 on his sole run during the day. There were some delays due to car fires so team 7707 got the run well into the afternoon.

Top speed of the day, and of the event so far, was the Speed Demon streamliner which ran 459mph on a first half of a new class record, the car having a chute fail and ending up past the 10 mile mark, where conditions were wetter than the course. Driver Chris Raschke and the Speed Demon team got the car back to impound where it was cleaned and started, ready for a morning backup today.

Four shows were planned in London, Leeds, Manchester and Bristol but not all went to plan. The Automobile Club Di Milano, confirmed four participating Dragsters for demonstration and show at 35th Italian Grand Prix which Moonbeam, two Allard Dragons, Tony Nancy's slingshot and George Brown's Vincent motorcycle would attend.

Gerry received many thank you letters after the events, although they had received some criticism during the events there was a lot of positivity and gratitude after the Festival and there is a link to some Drag Festival eyewitness accounts along with a list of American drivers who are still with us and those who have passed.

This story which you can see by clicking on this link, was produced by John Hunt from Gerry's letters, edited by Nick Pettitt and published by Eurodragster.com editor Simon Groves. Simon Belton, son of Gerry, and Allan Allard, son of Sydney, have given their kind permission to publish letters and other paperwork.

“The temperature was 94.7F with 23% humidity when we ran at 13:17 but has risen to 105F during the afternoon.

“We won’t run again today because we all must be off the salt by 8pm, and we don’t want to go to impound too late in the day having run a record with servicing needed on the car for the backup. We plan to run tomorrow morning (Monday) and get to impound during the day’s racing.”

“On checking the tires after the 256mph run we found the tires had started to “chunk”. So huge thanks go out to the guys at Shelby Goodyear for changing the tires.

Geoff mentioned there were a few incidents slowing down the action, including one car hitting the mile markers wrecking clocks stationed at that point. But lots of runs were made. SCTA reported 250 runs and 19 records set on Sunday. The salt Record Return runs will be at 7:30 a.m. and then qualifying runs will resume.

Congratulations to Jim Hoogerhyde whose electric powered streamliner ran a new record of 306.169mph making Jim eligible for membership of the 300mph chapter. Let’s hope Geoff achieves this during Speedweek.

If you want to experience the Ultimate American Muscle Car show you are urged to get a ticket via Santa Pod Raceway's ticket shop, with weekend admission only £68 and sign on for each day £45. All tickets must be pre-booked.

The Ultimate American Muscle Car show with RWYB for American Cars only, Drag Racing, Show & Shine, Wheelie Contest, Live Music, Traders and Camping. Whether you have a modified or classic American car or truck, come along to the largest muscle car doorslammer event in Europe.

There’ll be a Wheels Up contest on Saturday evening and Sunday will see a gigantic Show n Shine display in the car corral. The best Muscle Car Show in the UK has just got bigger, don’t miss this Petrol Head experience, get those tickets today. Camping available onsite so come for the weekend, all American car clubs welcome.

Thanks to Herman Jolink for sending in his Mantorp Park, Sweden report 25^th-28^th July Herman writes:

I was at the Mantorp Park Sweden racing with my Ducati Panigale-1 Drag Bike and I must get the feel of the Young Lady (Ducati Panigale-1 Drag Bike).

Herman has been riding since 1976 at Drag Race, Sweden and always on Ducati Bike. After the 3^rd – 4^th day of riding my body begun to say it is too much and after a short black out at the start I get so much support from the riders, racers at Mantorp Park in the bike and car classes. The spectators have helped me so much too with my battle against cancer (Anuscarsinoom).

Nitro Revival sponsor and Land Speed racer Geoff Stilwell had a busy day after setting their pit up on Friday. Saturday morning saw the team fire the car up then went to the queue, where Geoff and team had a wait of four hours before making their first pass.

Sharon Muravez posted: “After a slippery start Geoff made a good recovery as he powered the car to 243mph before pulling the chutes in mile three. Good data collected for runs tomorrow.” Geoff added “Our first run did not go to plan! It was a bit lively and the car nearly spun. I normally leave the push truck at 3000, this time it was 3700, enough to overpower the track and spin the tyres.

Kai McSweeney published on his Facebook page earlier this week on passing his racing licence to compete in Street Elminator, Kai wrote:

What a weekend my first time in the Volve doing my licencing passes and I can officially say I have my racing licence. Ended up only doing three passes before being told my by my dad to get back into the car to finish the event and taking home the event win.

You can view his runs by clicking here.

Thought we would give an update on what has been happening with Team Perkins, since we haven't consistently been attending events for some time now since the crash, and especially in 2024. 

Some time has passed now since the crash at the Euro finals in 2022, which took a lot longer than expected to be back competing at the level we know we can, but thanks to a lot of hard work from the team and to Andy Wright who done the chassis work & baselined the car, we are starting to get the car back to running consistent again, but of course not where we want to be!

We also wanted to give a massive thank you to Williams Bros & VP Racing who have provided us with Oil and Fuel for the last couple of meetings which is much appreciated, and since then we have improved ETs every run, it can't be a coincidence! 

Looking forward to the rest of the year we can't wait to see some more progress as we get to grips with the car and look to freshen and upgrade ready for next season so we can really push for some championships again, by adding to our round & event wins! 

We have plenty of T-shirts and Hoodies for sale, which will be available at the track if you are interested, or just message Lloyd Perkins on Facebook at this link.