Smax Smith announced that he had purchased Alan Jacksons Oldsmobile Achieva Nitro Funny Car and would be making his fuel car debut at Santa Pods Easter Thunderball Meeting. His old car, the Mainline Meanace Altered was sold to a Sussex racer who would continue to run it with the Supercharged Outlaws.

UK Pro Mod Driver Al Cook announced that he would be retiring from driving. He had run his best ever race at the previous years European Finals at Santa Pod with a 6.70/204 in his  Tim McAmis-built '63 Corvette.

UK Nitro  Funny Car teams Showtime Racing UK, Shockwave and the Carbon By Design Top Fuel Dragster team announced that they would be running 90% nitromethane this season, at least a year in advance of any possibility of NHRA's 90% rule being introduced in Europe.

Avon Park Raceway had a change of identity and was re-named Shakespeare County Raceway

Thunderball, Santa Pod Raceway, 22-24 April. Pro Fuel Shootout (Top Fuel Drgasters Vs Top Fuel Funny Cars) MSA Top Alcohol Round One, UK Championship Round One for-Pro Mod, Super Pro, Super Comp, Super Gas, Pro ET, Super Street, Sportsman ET, Junior Dragster, ACU Top Fuel Bike, ACU Pro Stock Bike, ACU Funny Bike, ACU Competition Bike, ACU Super Street Bike, 9.90 Bike, 10.90 Bike. Santa Pod saw its first ever Maltese competitor, John Ellul brought his Top Methanol dragster and ran a personal best of 6.03 before wrecking his engine. Len Paget debuted the worlds first Suzuki Hyabusa bodied dragbike in Pro Stock. Also in Pro Stock Bike Dave Beck set new European records of 7.464seconds and 178.13mph. In Super Street Bike Tony Clark ran 8.53/172.82mph to record the fastest mph by a nitrous superstreet bike in Europe.The inaugural Pro Fuel Shootout featured the nitro funny cars of John Spuffard and Gordon Smith racing against the top fuel dragsters of Barry Sheavills and rookie Peter Beck. All cars suffered some mechanical damage but Spuffard was the only competitor to make all three qualifing rounds and ran unopposed to take the final. His third run netted a 5.58, the quickest funny car run in the UK for nearly three years. Smax Smith completed his licensing runs in his nitro FC.

Entry List 1  Entry List 2  Entry List 3

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FIA Main Event, FIA Round One for- Top Fuel, Top Methanol Dragster, Top Methanol Funny Car, Pro Stock, FIM Round One for- Supertwin Top Fuel Bike, Pro Stock Bike, Competition Bike, UK Championship Round Three for-Pro Mod, Super Pro, Super Comp, Super Gas, Pro ET, Super Street, Sportsman ET, Junior Dragster, ACU Super Street Bike, 9.90 Bike, 10.90 Bike.

Rain was a major disruption on the first two days which meant that on the Monday many finals were not run due to the lack of time. In Top Methanol Dragster Malta's Manty Bugeja took the honours in the ex-Peter Beck car with sponsorship from Mr Whippy. He had a solo run in the final having run Maltas first five at the press day on Thursday and Maltas first side by side five with John Ellul in Saturdays qualifying. In Pro Stock the European record took a hammering. On Monday Michael Malmgren ran a new record with a 7.036 backed up by an earlier 7.086 in qualifying. Minutes later Jari Konola ran 7.015 backed up by an earlier 7.069. Malmgren then reclaimed the record with a 7.003 and bettered it in the final round with a 6.990/196.45, the first European six second Pro Stock run. Top Fuel rookie Peter Beck made number one qualifier with a 5.49 but the final was won by Alan Jackson with a 5.27/248.96 to Anita Makelas engine breaking 5.53/205.23. John Spuffard had only one run in the Showtime Pontiac with new sponsorship from Snap On Tools and recorded a storming 5.39/221.45, shutting off early to run the quickest ever European time for a Nitro Funny Car. In FIM Supertwin Top Fuel Ton Pels took the final honours with a new personal best of 6.89/189.

Entry List 1  Entry List 2  Entry List 3

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Super Series 2, Shakespeare County Raceway, UK Championship Round Four for-Pro Mod, Super Pro, Super Comp, Super Gas, Pro ET, Super Street, Sportsman ET, Junior Dragster, ACU Top Fuel Bike, ACU Pro Stock Bike, ACU Funny Bike, ACU Competition Bike, ACU Super Street Bike, 9.90 Bike, 10.90 Bike. With great weather for the two day meeting 12 new track records were set. Jeff Mead ran a new best E.T. for the Custom Car Street Eliminator class of 9.214seconds in his Pop. Jonathon Bond ran a new best E.T. for Junior Stock Dragster of 14.258 as well as a new speed record of 44.73mph. In the Modified Junior Dragster class Phil Cook set both ends of the track record with 8.204 seconds and 79.09mph. Super Street Bike saw Graham Dance set both ends at 8.204 seconds and 173.75mph. In Super Twin Street Steve Piper took his Ducati to new track records of 10.262 and 173.75mph. Super Twin Modified saw John Coombe set a new speed record on his Honda of 129.31 and Super Twin Fuel had Ben Beneke set both ends at 8.045/175.78.

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Cannonball, Santa Pod Raceway, MSA Top Alcohol Round Three, UK Championship Round Five for-Pro Mod, Super Pro, Super Comp, Super Gas, Pro ET, Super Street, Sportsman ET, Junior Dragster, ACU Top Fuel Bike, ACU Pro Stock Bike, ACU Funny Bike, ACU Competition Bike, ACU Super Street Bike, 9.90 Bike, 10.90 Bike. Photographer Graham Whitehead raffled a picture of Chris Hampson who lost his life at the Main Event and raised a total of £3475.11 for Chris' family. Martin Hill set new European E.T. and speed records for a Jet Funny Car with 'Fireforce II' at 6.265/252.77, managing to break a window in the control tower into the bargain. Brian Johnson set a new Top Fuel Bike speed record of 217.09mph. He ran 6.240 seconds and 6.308 the quicker of the two runs backing up the slower. In Super Street Bike Graham Dance set a new E.T. record of 8.161 seconds. In the Cannonball competition two Methanol Funny Cars made it to the final for the first time in the events history. Micke Kagered took the win over Urs Erbacher with a 6.06/238.54 to a 6.48/217.04. The nitro cars failed to run consistently enough with pre-event favourite John Spuffard suffering two bouts of tyre shake that both deployed the chutes early.

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Shakespeare County Raceway. Mini Showdown. Martin Hill continued to improve in the new Fireforce Jet Funny Car. He ran a best performance of 6.163/260.12 to firmly establish himself as the quickest and fastest Jet Funny Car driver outside the USA.

 The fastest Mini belonged to Bill Edwards and his 70 year old father Peter who ran down into the low elevens with their 16 valve Vauxhall Astra powered space frame Mini built specifically for circuit racing's Special Saloon class. This particular Mini won the 'Fastest Mini In The World' race at Mallory Park that same year. (Jerry Cookson)

Super Series 3, Shakespeare County Raceway, UK Championship Round Six for-Pro Mod, Super Pro, Super Comp, Super Gas, Pro ET, Super Street, Sportsman ET, Junior Dragster, ACU Top Fuel Bike, ACU Pro Stock Bike, ACU Funny Bike, ACU Competition Bike, ACU Super Street Bike, 9.90 Bike, 10.90 Bike, Super Twins. Top Fuel Bike rider Steve Woolatt became the first year 2000 champion to be crowned with a win over Ian King. Nine new track records were set over the weekend. In Super Twin Fuel Ben Beneke set a new E.T. mark of 7.825 seconds. In Super Twin Modified Bart Salentyn set a new E.T. of 10.241 seconds and a new terminal speed of 135.14mph. Steve Piper set a new speed record of 133.95mph in Super Twin Street. In the European Top Gas Bike class Job Heezen ran a new E.T. best of 8.154 seconds. Tony Clark set a new speed record of 174.42mph in Super Street Bike and a new Funny Bike record of 7.274 seconds went to Chris Hall. The Junior Stock Dragster class saw Jonathan Bond set new E.T. and speed records of 13.975 seconds and 45.50mph. Roger Goring made his first full passes in his new Pontiac bodied jet funny car. He ran a best of 6.474/250.00. John Hogarth debuted his Super Comp Corvette but was unable to complete his observed runs and so could not race. His best run of the weekend was an 8.396/163.04.

Entry List 1  Entry List 2  Entry List 3

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Super Series 4, Shakespeare County Raceway, MSA Top Alcohol Final, UK Championship Round Seven for-Pro Mod, Super Pro, Super Comp, Super Gas, Pro ET, Super Street, Sportsman ET, Junior Dragster, ACU Pro Stock Bike, ACU Funny Bike, ACU Competition Bike, ACU Super Street Bike, 9.90 Bike, 10.90 Bike. Andy Carter returned to UK Top Fuel racing at the wheel of Barry Sheavills spare car. In a best of three match race Carter took the win with a best run of 5.222. A four car field of Top Fuel Funny Cars saw the debut of Alan Bates new Avenger. The final was between John Spuffards 'Showtime' and the Jungle.com car of Tony Betts. Betts pulled a red light, handing the win to Spuffard. The following new track records were set; Top Fuel; 5.222 (Andy Carter) 274.99 (Andy Carter), Jet Funny Car; 6.154 (Martin Hill) & 261.65 mph (Martin Hill), Super Street Rover; 9.163 (Martin Moore) & 144.69 mph (Martin Moore) Street Eliminator; 9.161 (Steve Pateman) & 154.11 mph (John Sleath), Pro Stock Bike; 7.525 (Dave Beck) & 179.28 mph (Chris Hope), Funny Bike 7.187 (Chris Hall), Super Street Bike; 178.57 mph (Tony Clark). After a sucession of oildowns and outbreaks of rain the meeting was unfinished. (Thanks to Jerry Cookson for the record info)

Entry List 1  Entry List 2  Entry List 3  Entry List 4

FIA European Finals, Santa Pod Raceway, FIA Final Round for-Top Fuel, Top Methanol Dragster, Top Methanol Funny Car, Pro Stock, FIM  Final Round for-Supertwin Top Fuel Bike, Pro Stock Bike, Competition Bike, UK Championship Round Eight for-Pro Mod, Super Pro, Super Comp, Super Gas, Pro ET, Super Street, Sportsman ET, Junior Dragster, ACU Super Street Bike, 9.90 Bike, 10.90 Bike. In Top Fuel Anita Makela and Barry Sheavills met in the first round of Top Fuel Dragster, Anita took the win in the race that decided the FIA Championship. Rookie Tommy Moller took the event win and set low E.T. of the meeting. After qualifying there was an all five-second field in Top Methanol Funny Car for the first time. Jarmo Roivas became the first ever European Top Methanol racer to top 250 mph with a run of 5.76 at 250.18 mph. He backed the run up with a subsequent pass for the record. Brian Johnson ran a superb 6.149/216.40 in FIM Comp Bike and backed it up with an even quicker 6.12 for a new European Record. Hakan Nilsson in Pro Mod clocked 6.499 at 216.02. Nilssons back up run for the record was a quicker 6.493/217.86. It looked as if the new record would not stand for long as Micke Gullquist ran quicker with a 6.47 but he failed to back it up. Nilsson made it to the final and took the win with a new low of 6.33. In FIM Pro Stock Bike Roger Pettersson set a new E.T. record of 7.523/176.85 backed up by 7.532/176.47. (Thanks to Andy Marrs for the record info)

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Santa Pod Raceway. National finals. UK Championship Final Round for-Super Pro, Super Comp, Super Gas, Pro ET, Super Street, Sportsman ET, Junior Dragster, ACU Pro Stock Bike, ACU Funny Bike, ACU Competition Bike, ACU Super Street Bike, 9.90 Bike, 10.90 Bike. Once again the weather took its toll on the proceedings with Saturday washed out and Sunday reduced to one-shot qualifying and then eliminations. Some of the finals were run but the rain returned and called an early halt to the meeting.

Entry List 1  Entry list 2  Entry List 3

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SPR. The Thunderball/Pro Fuel Shootout. MSA Top Alcohol Round One, UK Championship Round One for Super Pro, Super Comp, Super Gas, Pro ET, Super Street, Sportsman ET, Junior Dragster, ACU Top Fuel Bike, ACU Pro Stock Bike, ACU Funny Bike, ACU Competition Bike, ACU Super Street Bike, 9.90 Bike, 10.90 Bike. In the Pro Fuel Shootout John Spuffard was the winner for the second year running in the Showtime Funny Car. The final was between him and Andy Carter, both cars unable to find traction on the cold track. In top Fuel Bike Brian Johnson ran 6.116/225.26 in round one but was unable to back up either for new records. Steve Pateman set a new speed record of 156.33 mph in the Custom Car Street Eliminator class. In the final he ran 164 mph but could not back this up.

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Shakespeare County Raceway. Super Series One. UK Nitro Funny Car Championship Round One. MSA Top Alcohol Round Two, UK Championship Round Two for Super Pro, Super Comp, Super Gas, Pro ET, Super Street, Sportsman ET, Junior Dragster, ACU Top Fuel Bike, ACU Pro Stock Bike, ACU Funny Bike, ACU Competition Bike, ACU Super Street Bike, 9.90 Bike, 10.90 Bike. John Spuffard took the first round of the 2001 Fuel Funny Car Championship from Gordon Smith in a race which culminated in a top end speed of 281.25 mph, the fastest ever speed by a Fuel FC in Europe, which broke not only Shakespeare County Raceway's Fuel FC speed record but the absolute track record which up to that point had been held by Andy Carter in Top Fuel. Smax Smith had problems in his Mainline Menace Fuel FC on Sunday after a valve hung open resulting in a fireball on the car's second pass since its rebuild. Smax was unhurt and the team put the car back together overnight, but were not allowed to compete in the eliminations. Alan Bates also had trouble, drifting out of the groove and eventually tagging the guardrail. Al suffered engine damage on that pass and was unable to take part in the eliminations.In Custom Car Street Eliminator Steve Pateman became the first competitor into the eights with a pass of 8.868 on Sunday which he backed up for a new record. Steve also set a new speed record of 167.29 mph. Super Comp racers Brian Pateman and Paul Marston both spun out at the finish line but neither Brian nor Paul were hurt, and Brian's Firebird and Paul's PT Bruiser were similarly OK.

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Shakespeare County Raceway. Super Series 2 UK Championship Round Three for Super Pro, Super Comp, Super Gas, Pro ET, Super Street, Sportsman ET, Junior Dragster, Pro Stock Bike, Funny Bike, Competition Bike, Super Street Bike, 9.90 Bike, 10.90 Bike. European Top Gas Series Round One. Supertwin Modified racer Tim Boutle set a new world record for a twin-cylinder production bike on his Honda CX650 at 11.151 seconds and 132.39 mph. Supertwin Gas racer Jerry Collier re-set his own world record of 9.671 with a 9.612 on his Jade Racing machine, the quickest two-stroke drag bike in the world. Super Street Car driver Rich Gilbertsons Ford Pop turned very hard right just after launching and flipped up onto its side, sliding across the track and coming to rest against the opposite barrier. In the second session of Custom Car Sue Jackson was in the right hand lane and drifted out of the groove towards the armco, as she corrected the car moved hard to the left, crossing the centre line before the car flipped over onto its roof and came to rest at about 3/4 track. Job Heezen reset the track speed record for Top Gas bikes with a 166mph run. Tim Blakemore recorded a 7.24 in the semi final of funnybike to advance to the final before losing out to Ken Cooper. Steve Pateman reset the Custom Car speed record again with a 168mph run. Mark Newby took his Viper Jet Dragster  to new track records of 203.62 mph on the Saturday and an E.T. of 7.655 seconds on the Sunday.

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SPR. The Main Event. FIA Round One for Top Fuel, Top Methanol Dragster, Top Methanol Funny car, Pro Stock and UEM Round One for Competition Bike, Supertwin Top Fuel, Pro Stock Bike, UK Championship Round Four for Super Pro, Super Comp, Super Gas, Pro ET, Super Street, Sportsman ET, Junior Dragster, Super Street Bike, 9.90 Bike, 10.90 Bike. Saturdays qualifying saw Brian Johnson take out the 1000-foot marker and then plough through the top end lights on his Top Fuel Bike. In Custom Car Street Eliminator Ian Hook got into the eights with a pass of 8.992/154.86. On Sunday in UEM Supertwin Top Fuel qualifying Carsten Andersson bailed out of his badly out-of-shape bike at the top end, going through the speed traps at 140 mph on his back. The sum total of Carsten's injuries was some scratches and a broken hand. In UEM Comp Bike Brian Johnson failed to qualify. In FIA Top Fuel Dragster Anita Makela took the number one qualifying spot with a 5.177/251.32 while Rookie Micke Kagered took number two spot with a 5.221/269.42.  Martin Hill in the Fireforce 2 Jet Funny Car took another trip into the fives with a 5.94/264.60. As Martin went through the top end the FC's body cracked in several places. Monday saw the quickest ever Top Fuel race in Europe with Barry Sheavills 5.00/285.72 (low E.T. of the meeting) defeating Andy Carters 5.08/286.20 in Round One. In the next round Barry was beaten by Peter Beck whos 5.60/246.36 just edged out Barrys blower belt breaking 5.66/158.05. Unfortunately Beck damaged his motor beyond repair leaving Anita Makela to solo to a win in the final. UEM Supertwin Top Fuel saw Anders Karling run a 6.70/186.98 to defeat Erik Nielsen. Anders' 6.70 would have been a new European record but he failed to back it up.

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Shakespeare County Raceway. Super Series Three. UK Championship Round Five for Super Pro, Super Comp, Super Gas, Pro ET, Super Street, Sportsman ET, Junior Dragster, Super Street Bike, 9.90 Bike, 10.90 Bike. In the Outlaw Anglia class Jeff Mead set a new track record of 154.11mph in his 468ci Ford Pop.

Entry List 1  Entry List 2

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Shakespeare County Raceway. Super Series Four. UK Nitro Funny Car Championship Round Three. MSA Top Alcohol Round Four. UK Championship Round seven for Super Pro, Super Comp, Super Gas, Pro ET, Super Street, Sportsman ET, Junior Dragster, Super Street Bike, 9.90 Bike, 10.90 Bike. Ten years after his last appearance in the UK Norm Wilding returned to take the driving seat of Mark & Jackie Hawkins Avenger in the UK Fuel Funny Car Championship. He defeated favourite John Spuffard in a race for grip in round one and went on to beat Gordon Smith in the final with both cars again searching for traction. The Showtime team of Spuffard and Bob Jarrett however secured enough points to take the Championship title for the year and put in a solo run for third place resulting in low E.T. and Top Speed of the weekend with a 5.591/277.78 blast. Smax Smith suffered a huge fireball run in his Fuel FC which saw him out of competiton but unhurt. Rob Turner secured another MSA Top Methanol Championship title despite suffering engine damage in eliminations. He earlier set new SCR track records of 5.771/245.90. Also securing a Championship win was Ian king who took the ACU Top Fuel Bike Championship with a win over Steve Woolatt, and Tony Clark took the informal European Super Street Bike Championship with Graham Dance in second place.

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Santa Pod Raceway. Run What You Brung. A number of racers took the opportunity of using this as a pre-season test day.  Among them were Gordon Smith and Dave Bryant, with a new body on their Shockwave Fuel Funny Car, and Oyvor Jacobsen who was making a return to Top Fuel racing with the Rune Fjeld Team. Her single visit to the start line, in very cold conditions, saw a lack of traction on the launch which resulted in a blackened crank. John Everitt ran a new PB in his Pro ET Toyota of 9.48/144.83. Junior Dragster racer Johnny Walker appeared with a rare sight, a twin engined stock JD described as "an experiment" by his Dad. He ran 12.89/46.54, and 13.04/47.14.

Santa Pod Raceway. Easter Thunderball & Pro Fuel Shootout. This years shootout saw the debut of Smax Smith in a Top Fuel car. He ran his licencing passes in the first rounds, recording 5.57/175.99, 5.47/185.77 and an early shut off 6.31/144 after tyre shake. These times were enough to put him into the final round against Gordon Smith in the Shockwave Funny Car, who ran 8.89/102.09, 5,78/190.94 and 10.05/85.72. Andy Carter ran 6.35/175.99, 6.19/230.04 and 5.47/197.97. Micke Kagered recorded a best of 12.32/79.70, the car failing to stick to the track on the launches. Oyvor Jacobsen ran her licensing passes also, recording a best of 7.30/110 after tyre shake. Bill Sherratt was in the seat of the Showtime Funny Car, his first pass quickly produced a blower belt throwing boom, which forced him to sit out the second round. In round three a similar situation occured with the burst panel blowing off the front of the body. In the final the Shockwave car went up in smoke on the hit, while Smax took the win with a terminal speed of 283.36 with no E.T. being recorded after an erroneous 4.55s came up on the finish line display. Dave Wilson qualified at number one in Top Methanol with a 5.665/253.63, followed by Rob Turner at 5.688/247.32. Third was Steph Milam at 6.673/213.45 and Doug Ripley finally at 11.113/115.58. Wilson and Turner made the final, both running 5.63 in the semis. Wilson hit tyre shake but drove through it, but Turner took the win with a 5.65/238.22 to a 5.70/245/31. In Super Pro ET qualifying Pat Talbot ran new PBs in the first two rounds, culminating in a 7.13/185.84, but it was Mark Flavell who made the number one spot with a 7.918/173.78, 0.008s followed by Ian Bishop with a 7.941/169. Bishop made it to the final where he faced Danny  Cockerill, taking the win with a 7.940/155.07 to a 7.971/168.56. In Custom Car Street Eliminator John Sleath hit the wall twice at half track in his Audi. He was declared ok after check ups. Steve Pateman took his Chevy powered Calibra to number one qualifier spot with an 8.600/171.86, a new class speed record. Jon Webster made number two with an 8.734/166.73. Pateman made it to the final where he defeated Sue Jackson with an 8.653/168.81 to an 8.723/155.06. In the bike ranks Bob Brooks recorded a new PB of 7.83 in Comp Bike and Dave Beck had a very good weekend in Pro Stock. He qualified at number one with a 7.295/183.08, a new ACU ET record, and a new speed record. He went on to win the final round against Richard Gipp with a 7.434/174.07 to an 8.189/160.41. Eric Teboul put in two passes on his rocket bike. The first was a 6.39/181.85, the second a 6.17/181.05, which produced a 3.889/203 at the eighth, the quickest and fastest ever recorded for a bike.

For all class results click here. For Eurodragster live updates click here.

Shakespeare County Raceway. Excitement Nationals. In the Wild Bunch Dick Sharp, driving the Dorset Horn Altered, ran a 9.60 which was almost a new personal best. The crankshaft in the car was reported to be the same one that the team had been using when they began racing in 1973. In Custom Car Street Eliminator qualifying Sue Jackson's Corvette crossed lanes and had a head on with the guardrail. Sue was OK.  Rain brought an early end to the proceedings on Saturday. Smax Smith and Darryl Bradford were present with their Top Fuel cars for a series of match races. In the first round on Sunday Bradford (using a HANS neck & head support, the first in UK Drag racing to do so) took too long to come into pre-stage and was disqualified. Smith shut off before the eigth mile to a 6.874/127.84. The nitro Funny Cars of Gordon Smith (Shockwave) and John Spuffard (Showtime) ran together for their first qualifier. Spuffards engine popped and blew the pressure relief plate on the hit while Smith hit tyre shake quickly and tagged the guardrail, coasting to an 8.889/100.45. The first round of Top Methanol saw Dave Wilson get out of shape after tyre shake and use the whole width of his lane before straightening up and clocking a 7.645/119.05. In the other lane Doug Bond took evasive action and shut off early to a 10.344/73.77. Rob Turner also suffered tyre shake that was so severe it broke the rear axle brackets. The second session saw Wilson hit tyre shake again, but he drove through it and went to number one qualifier with a 5.762/245.90. Doug Bond got a full run in and took the number two spot with a 6.719/207.37. Steph Milam soled after Doug Ripley lost fire after the burnout. She hit tyre shake and shut off early to an 11.248/107.40. Ripley re-started and also hit tyre shake, recording a 14.341/39.59. Pro Mod qualifying saw John Ellis put in a strong pass with no time recorded. Gordon Appleton was debuting his new Camaro which had apparently only been finished by Robinson Race Cars on the Friday night. His first run got out of shape and he hit the timing reflectors. Personal bests in qualifying went to Funny Bike riders Dave Holland, with a 7.131/182.19, which put him in numer one spot, and Stu Chamberlain with a 7.400/177.17, which put him in number two. Paul Watson ran his first seven with a 7.982/166.67 in Pro Stock Bike. Lucy Thorn in the other lane clocked an 8.891/154 before parting company with her bike in the shut down area. Lucy was unhurt. TJ O'Brien qualified at number one and ran a new record in Supertwin Modified with a 9.959/141.9. Nick Stephenson went to number one qualifier in Super pro ET after running 8.700/160 on an 8.70 dial-in. On Sunday the wind was strong enough that the motorcycle classes ran their first rounds by racing to the eigth mile. After that the wind died down and they resumed running to the quarter. John Spuffard and Gordon Smith ran their final qualifier. Both cars launched well but at half track the Showtime car lost it's relief panel and blower belt with a bang and burst of flame. Smith was drifting towards Spuffard's lane and got off the throttle. In their final round Spuffard took the win with a 5.633/263.16 as Smith shut off at half track to record at 6.343/183.67. In the first round of Top Methanol Dave Wilson got a bye and then drove through tyre shake to record a 5.696/252.81. Doug Bond defeated Rob Turner 6.322/171.10 to 6.992/141.51. Both cars hit tyre shake and shut off early. Doug Ripley defeated Steph Milam with both cars getting out of shape and pedalling due to tyre shake. In the semis it was Bond who took the bye, running 8.059/117.19. Ripley put in his best pass of the weekend with an 8.034/179, but lost out to a strong 5.710/235.60 from Wilson. In the final it was Wilson who took the honours with a 5.716/235.60 to a 5.940 from Bond. His speed was not recorded as Wilson's chute had disturbed the finish line reflector and tripped the clocks. Gordon Appleton ran a 6.740/206.42, getting to grips with the new car. In Super Modified Danny Cockerill took the final round win with a 7.794/180.72 as opponent Andy Hone got out of shape, clipped the guardrail and then had a battle on his hands to get the car straight, before turning hard left and hitting the rail again. T J O'Brien was looking to back up his 9.959 from the previous day, but ran too quick with a 9.844. He took the final with a 9.926/139.32 win over a 9.893/135.95 from Dave Bartz. In Pro Stock bike Paul Watson upped his personal best again with a 7.629/173.08 bye in the semis. He went on to beat Richard Gipp in the final with a 7.660/175.78. Jamie Sneddon and Max Nixon both ran new personal bests in Super Street Bike with 8.56 and 8.41 respectively. Jennifer Hurcomb became the winner of the UK's first ever Junior Drag Bike elimination with a 10.354/70.98 win when opponent Dan Baldwin failed to make the call.

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Santa Pod Raceway. Speedfreaks Ball. After a couple of hold ups for rain on Saturday Martin Hill took the Fireforce 2 Jet Funny Car to a solo 6.41/251.07 before lining up alongside Tony Baker in Fireforce One. He improved on his earlier performance by winning with a 6.04/271.79 to a 7.21/189.95. Jerry Lackey put in a couple of test half-passes in the Patriot Jet Dragster, a 9.21/84.14 and an 8.84/95.09. Eric Teboul put in a 5.968s pass on his rocket bike, his first five second pass, but had less luck with his Top Fuel Bike entry which shattered a sprocket. Roel Koedam led the way in Top Fuel Bike with a 6.60/180.63 half pass, followed by a 7.23/194.61. Steve Woolatt ran a 6.87/198.39 followed by an early shut off 7.06/169.50. Ian King slowed to a 14.01/51.62 after his blower belt broke. Ton Pels was the quickest of the Super Twins with a 7.39/197.07 and a 7.23/194.61. In Funny Bike Neil Midgley led the way with a brace of 7.19s passes at 185.55 and 186.85mph. In Super Street Bike Matt Nixon qualified at number one with an 8.494/160.19, followed by Graham Dance (8.642), Karl Larcombe (8.664) and Pete Bellenie (8.733). In Eliminations on the Sunday Dance and Nixon made their way to the final where Dance ran his quickest time of the weekend to win with an 8.48/169.17 to an 8.84/162.22. In the Top Fuel/Super Twin Shootout Roel Koedam took the final win with a strong 6.43/222.05 against Ton Pels whose engine died on the launch. Ian King and Jamie Millership raced for third and fourth place, King taking it with a 7.61/180.80 over a 9.12/124.70. Eric Teboul put in a 6.123/190.83 on the rocket bike and Martin Hill and Tony Baker held two more Fireforce match races. Hill won both with a 6.34/260.20 and a 6.73/252.29.

Eurodragster Live Updates

Santa Pod Raceway. Main Event. After a promising star weather-wise the first day of qualifying was interrupted a couple of times for rain showers. Fuel Funny Car saw two new drivers licencing. Lex Joon, with the ex-Showtime Avenger, and Leif Helander with his Starkotter Saab entry. The second day of qualifying saw Andy Carter lead the way in Top Fuel with a 4.884/288.64 in the final session. Anita Makela followed with a 4.892/261.37, then Kim Reymond with a 5.005/261.16. John Spuffard in Showtime led Fuel Funny Car with an early shut off 5.555/190.4 followed by Gordon Smith's Shockwave at 5.650/183.87. In Top Methanol Funny Car Urs Erbacher became the first in Europe to the 5.6s with a 5.694/246.51 that put him at number one qualifier and set the European record at 5.771. Pro Modified saw Roger Johansson become the first in Europe in to the 6.3s with a 6.397/207.07 for number one qualifier. Very close behind was Hakan Nilsson, also in the 6.3s with a 6.398/216.26. The UK's Gordon Appleton ran a new personal best of 6.615/209.80. Top Fuel Bike saw Steve Woolatt set a new personal best of 6.541/211.25 on The Dealer. Number one qualifier was Roel Koedam with a 6.263/221.20. In Pro Stock Bike Roger Pettersson made the number one spot with a 7.396/178.94, one thousandth of a second quicker than the European record. He backed this up on his next pass with a 7.456/174.91 for a new European record. Martin Hill put in a 5.793/275.71 in the Fireforce 2 Jet Funny Car. On race day in Top Fuel number one qualifier Andy Carter ran a 5.008/233.22 with smoke coming from his engine as number eight qualifier Smax Smith powered his way to a 4.899/303 win. Oyver Jacobsen beat Tommy Moller with new personal bests of 5.131/286.19 to 8.688/87.89 as Moller's engine expired. Gary Page advanced to the next round with a defeat of Anita Makela whose engine went up in flames, and Kim Reymond ran a 4.932/286.54 to defeat Micke Kagered's 5.490/171.61. Smith advanced to the final in the next round with a 5.056/294.62 over a 5.182/236.30 from Jacobsen, and Page took a 5.175/256.02 win over Reymond whose tyres went up in smoke on the line. In the final it was Smith who took the win with a 4.959/280.53 to a 5.382/211.65. In Fuel Funny Car John Spuffard ran a solo 5.288/266.57 in the first round, the quickest FC pass outside the USA. He went on to win the final against Gordon Smith with a 5.410/265.59 to a 7.053/124.36. This backed up his earlier 266.57mph for a new European record. The Top Methanol Dragster final produced the quickest side-by-side race outside the USA as Dave Wilson took the win with a 5.461/244.44 over a 5.488/247.57 from Peter Schofer. Top Methanol Funny Car saw Urs Erbacher reset the record again with a 5.755/245.86 in his semi final defeat of Dan Larsen who ran 5.857/239.66. Erbacher took the final win with a 5.715/248.36 that backed up his earlier 5.694 for another European record. His final opponent was Leif Andreasson who ran 5.901/241.70. Pro Modified saw Gordon Appleton reset his personal best again in the semis with a 6.580/208.99, but he lost to a 6.453/215.52 from Roger Johnasson. Johansson went on to win the final against Henri Joosten with a 6.462/215.58 to a 6.880/196.43. In Top Fuel Bike Roel Koedam ran a new personal best of 6.237/223.44 to defeat Tim Blakemore's 7.305/163.93. The Pro Stock Bike semi finals saw Roger Petterson's bike lose fire as he approached the start line. He restarted and took the win with a 7.514/175.57 over an 8.261/157.67 from Chris Hope. The restart was judged to be against the rules and Hope was brought back in to face Oivind von Essen in the final. Von Essen pulled a red light and Hope took the win with an 8.482/149.92.

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Shakespeare County Raceway. Power Nationals. Darryl Bradford and Susanne Callin held a best of three Top Fuel match race. The first round went to Bradford with an early shut off 5.986/180.72 whilst Callin experienced tyre shake, which appeared to be on one side only, and coasted through to a 7.237/111.66. In the second round it was Callin that took the win with another early shut off after shake and an 8.041/97.61 as Bradford rolled through the staging lights and collected a red. In the deciding third round both cars got it together before shutting off before the finish and it was Bradford that took the win with a 5.543/240.64 to a 5.457/220.59. Mickey Moore and Jim Seward were on hand with their Fuel Altereds, also for a best of three. Moore took the first round with a 7.937/183.67 to an anyway but straight 7.815/128.94. Seward took the second round, 7.301/171.76 to 8.632/181.45. In the decider Moore had mechanical problems and Seward soloed to a 6.928/177.17. Gordon Appleton ran a best of 6.715/211.27 in a series of three races with John Ellis. Appleton's speed was a new track record for the class. Martin Hill took the Fireforce 2 Jet Funny Car to the tracks first five second jet car pass on his first outing, a 5.920/271.08. He bettered this on his next outing with a 5.885/272.73. Roger Goring also ran his Firestorm Jet FC with a best of 6.627/238.10. In Super Modified Steve Rawlings ran a new personal best of 8.241/165.44 in the first round, having qualified at number two with an 8.660/160.14. Danny Cockerill qualified at number one with an 8.266/169.81. The final was won by Graham Ellis with a solo 7.744/181.45 aftter Rawlings broke. Custom Car Street Eliminator qualifying saw Sue Jackson turn her Corvette on it's side before hitting the guardrail. She was OK and the car not too badly damaged. Steve Pateman led qualifying all the way through in his Calibra, finishing with an 8.763/167.91 ahead of John Hales at 8.842/166.05. Both drivers made it to the final, Pateman taking the win with a 9.741/145.16 to a 9.575/166.67. In The Wild Bunch Dick Sharpe took his Dorset Horn Altered to a new personal best of 9.541s. In Pro Stock Bike qualifying Richard Gipp set a new personal best of 7.605/173.08 to take the lead. Dave Beck then immediately followed with a 7.538/171.76 to knock him down to number two. Gipp improved again in eliminations with a 7.569/177.17 but failed to make the final. Beck faced Chris Hope in the last round and took the win with a 7.641/171.10 to an 8.543/167.29. In a hotly contested Funny Bike field Neil Midgley made number one qualifier with a 7.183/177.17 followed by Dave Holland at 7.261/171.10. In eliminations Holland won his first round pairing with Paul Knapp with a 7.256s at a new track record MPH of 186.72. Two competitors ran new personal bests in the first round, a 7.196/183.67 from Mike Chislett, and a 7.180/192.31 from Steve French, setting a second new MPH track record. In the semis Neil Midgley ran the tracks first six second Funny Bike pass with a 6.988/182.93. He went on to win the final against Holland with a 7.058/189.08 to a 7.273/178.57.

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Santa Pod Raceway. Summer Nationals. In Top Methanol Rob Turner ran a new MSA Championship record of 5.586/238.84 in his first round bye run. This was backed up by a 5.613/229.25 qualifier. Only two cars made the eliminations as Steph Millam damaged two valves in her She Devil FC on a personal best qualifying run of 6.614/213.00. Dave Wilson's first round bye produced a 5.636/245.45 and he went on to win the final with a 5.684/248.90 to Turner's 5.6878/244.75. In Super Modified Steve Rawlings ran a new personal best of 8.138 in qualifying. On his next outing he lowered it again with an 8.108/162.71. In the final round of qualifying on the Sunday morning he improved yet again and ran his first seven second pass, a 7.960/169.51. In the first round of eliminations he ran 8.012/168.58 to defeat a 10.281/142.31 from Paul Brooks. Danny Cockerill had qualified at number one with a 7.704/179.60 and took a bye at 7.701/180.37 in the first round. Graham Ellis advanced to the semis with the quickest and fastest Super Mod run ever of 7.553/183.50 against a 7.996/166.11 from Andy Hone. Ellis ran quicker and faster again in the next round with a 7.510/184.26, but a holeshot 7.610/183.71 from Cockerill took the win. In the final it was Cockerill again who took the honours with a 7.552/184.62 to an 8.075/167.78 from Rawlings. Neil Midgley took his Funny Bike to a 6.877/188.35 to lead qualifying. He backed this up in the second round of eliminations with a 6.877/189.96 for a new ACU record. In the final against Mike Chislett he went quicker still, re-set the record, and took the win with 6.831/189.83 to a 7.430/182.73. Ivan Birch ran a new personal best of 8.671/160.35 in the first round of qualifying for Super Street Bike, as did Matt Nixon with an 8.442/167.42. Nixon improved on this on his next outing with an 8.351/168.34 which gave the top qualifying spot. Neither rider made it to the final which was won by Tony Clark with an 8.819/171.15 over a 9.844/162.94 from Steve Venables. There was also a personal best for Al Golding in Super Pro ET of 8.861/150.66.

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Mantorp Park. Veidec Nitro Festival. In Top Fuel Smax Smith just missed out on running the first four second pass at the track in the first round of qualifying. His 4.954/466.38 (289.79mph) came shortly after Kim Reymond's 4.952/483.14 (300.20mph), putting the pair at the top of the seven car field, which is where they stayed as neither driver improved on this in the second round. Andy Carter put in an early shut-off 5.584/309.10 (192.06mph) in the first session, and improved to a 5.248/399.89 (248.48mph) in the second round, qualifying at number six. In eliminations Smith went out in the first round when he pulled a red light against Tommy Moller, who took the win with a 4.965/470.45 (292.32mph). Carter defeated Anita Makela in close race, 5.115/461.72 (286.89) to Makela's 5.134/337.05 (209.43mph) with an early shut off when smoke began to come from the engine. In the semis Carter pulled a holeshot on Moller before beginning to lose traction. He pedalled and took the win with a 5.374/452.46 (281.14mph) to a 5.396/432.46 (268.71mph). The final between Carter and Kim Reymond never happened as rain swept in and brought an early end to the meeting. Top Methanol Dragster saw Brits Rob Turner and Dave Wilson in the five car field. Wilson took an early lead in the first round of qualifying with a 5.571/413.64 (257.02mph) and Turner made number three with a 5.641/402.92 (250.36mph). Peter Schofer sat between the pair at 5.604/400.24 (248.69mph). In the second qualifier Schofer ran a new track record of 5.545/405.15 to push Wilson down to second. Turner improved to a 5.636/396.95 (246.65mph) but remained at third until the third session, where he produced a 5.562/405.54 (251.99mph) to move up to number two qualifier. In eliminations Turner lost a blower belt in his first round match with Krister Johansson, who took the win with a 6.204/355.39 (220.82mph). Wilson ran a 5.503/419.79 (260.84mph) for another new track record, and the first half of a new European speed record (the first European 260mph Top Methanol pass), in his defeat of a 6.441/262.45 (163.07mph) from Jari Halinen. In the semis Wilson secured the speed record with a 5.492/420.02 (261.04mph), but this was not enough to catch a holeshot 5.510/403.40 (250.66mph) from Schofer. In Top Fuel Bike Ian King qualified at number five but was unable to compete in eliminations. He suffered some burns to his legs when his bike errupted in a ball of flame during the second round of qualifying. In Pro Stock Bike the UK's Chris Hope and Richard Gipp qualified at numbers 3 and 7. Hope with a 7.634/280.41 (174.23mph) and Gipp with a 7.727/262.49 (163.10mph). In the first round Gipp lost out to Vesa Rautio, 7.464/287.76 (178.80mph) to 7.725/273.25 (169.78mph). Hope defeated Anders Abrahamsson, whose bike broke before half track, with an 8.812/269.16 (167.24mph). He then also got beaten by Rautio in the next round, 7.481/280.63 (174.37mph) to 7.591/279.60 (173.73mph). In Super Street Dave Cherrett and Bob Lees made it to rounds 4 (semi finals) and 2 respectively.

Shakespeare County Raceway. All Star Nationals. In Fuel Funny Car John Spuffard was debuting a new ex-John force Mustang body on the Showtime car. In the first round of qualifying he put in a strong 5.383/271.08 which placed him at the top of qualifying for the weekend. In the second round he set a new UK speed record with a 272.73mph blast in 5.409s. In the other lane Lex Joon suffered a huge fireball near the top end which burnt the chutes off. He managed to get the car stopped safely and was ok with minor burns to his hands. In the first round of eliminations Spuffard ran an early shut off 5.862/218.45 as opponent Gary Page suffered an engine failure which left oil along the second half of the track. Gordon smith soloed to a 12.943/81.82 after striking the tyres on the launch. In the final Smith had the same problem, idling to a 16.364/64.94 as Spuffard took the win with a 5.641/190.69. Doug Bond qualified at number one in a three car Top Methanol field with a 6.564/173.08. In the final his burst panel blew, leaving Steph Milam to take the win with new personal bests of 6.308/219.57. Mickey Moore and Jim Seward were on hand with their Fuel Altereds for a series of match races. Seward took the first round, 7.200/148.03 to a 9.563/160.71, and the second with a 7.023/164.73 to a 9.755/153.06. In the third Moore made the better start, but Seward soon caught and passed him, shuttting off early to a 10.466/72.82. In the final round it was Seward again with a 6.935/173.75 to a 9.616/166.67. Dick Sharp rolled the Dorset Horn Altered at the top end in the first round of qualifying for The Wild Bunch. Dick was taken to hospital and found to have broken his wrist.. In Custom Car Street Eliminator Sue Jackson was back with her Corvette, having crashed at the Power Nationals in June. Steve Pateman set a new class record of 8.441s in the third round of eliminations, despite losing to an 8.495 from Steve Nash. Super Modified saw a new personal best of 7.925s for Steve Rawlings in qualifying. In the third round of Super Pro ET qualifying Steve Johnson lost control of his Motor Mouse dragster and managed to keep the car on the track and upright through two 360 degree spins, still crossing the finish line at 116mph. Frank Mason qualified at number one in Super Gas with a perfect 9.00/141.96. In Top Fuel Bike Steve Woolatt led qualifying with a 6.773/204.55 on his return to the track after wrecking his engine at the Main Event. In qualifying on the Saturday he set new personal bests of 6.478/215.31. In eliminations he took a first round bye with a 6.587/207.37, which secured him the 2003 ACU Top Fuel Bike Championship. Both the other competitors in the class, Chris Hannam and Steve Carey were shut down before gettiung to the start line, leaving Woolatt to solo for the final round with an early shut off 7.105/177.17. In Supertwin Fuel qualifying Jerry Collier took his RD400 to a new world record for an RD of 9.141/139.75 to take an early lead in qualifying. He further improved on this with an 8.938/137.20, and then, in Round Two of eliminations, an 8.890/138.89. In the final he met Chris Stebbings and broke, leaving Stebbings to take the win with a 10.960/83.49. Roger Goring put in some demo passes in the Firestorm Jet Funny Car, running a best of 6.451/241.94 on the final run of the weekend.

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Santa Pod Raceway. European Finals. In Top Fuel qualifying Kim Reymond became the first in Europe to put in a 4.6s pass, and the first to top 310mph. His 4.645/317.56 put him at the top of the pack. Championship leader Smax Smith managed a best of 5.045/290.83 which put him in the number four spot. Susanne Callin was just behind him with a personal best of 5.097/284.45. Peter Beck and Tommy Moller were both in the fours, Beck at number two with 4.936/287.66, and Moller at three with a 4.988/299.48, a personal best speed. In eliminations Smith took a first round win with a leisurely 9.849/104.49 after going up in smoke of the line. Opponent Callin suffered an engine explosion. Micke Kagered ran a new personal best of 4.927/287.23 in his defeat of Peter Beck's 4.915/264.05. Smith advanced to the final with a launch and idle run after opponent Darryl Bradford shut off after his burnout. Kagered took the other semi win with a 5.192/268.34 to a 5.490/182.09 from Moller. With just eleven points between Smith and Kagered the final would decide the championship. It was Smith that took the win with a 5.055/292.64 as Kagered slowed following an engine explosion to 5.642/194.04.Top Methanol Dragster was also down to the final round for the championship title. Dave Wilson emerged victorious with a 5.559/252.83 win over a 5.598/247.25 from Peter Schofer. In Fuel Funny Car a first round bye for John Spuffard secured him the 2003 Championship title. In the final against Gordon Smith an engine explosion launched the cars body off while Smith crossed the centre line ahead of him and finished in the wrong lane, giving Spuffard the win. Christer Jacobs qualified at number one in Pro Modified with a 6.379/216.54, lost to Norbert Kuno in the first round after shutting off due to tyre shake. Kuno went out in the next round to Gordon Appleton whose engine went up in smoke at the finish, allowing Roger Johansson to take an easy route to the final and accumulate enough points to secure the championship title. In the last round he met Freddy Fagerstrom and took the win with a 6.435/213.41 to a 6.557/206.67. In Super Pro ET Barry Giles took an early lead in qualifying with a 7.630/169.30 on a 7.63 dial in, but failed to make it past the first round of eliminations. Roger Moore was second with his first ever seven second pass, a 7.965 on a 7.95 dial in, making the Moore Brothers Herald the quickest 400ci Pontiac Doorslammer on the planet. He went out in round two. In Super Gas Frank Mason qualified at number one with a 9.900 for the second meeting in a row. Top Fuel Bike saw Roel Koedam set new European records of 6.113/229.99 in qualifying. He then bettered this with a 6.046/235.89 in the next round. His good form ran out though in the semi final against Ian King when his engine destroyed itself. King had left before the lights ran so Koedam had a place in the final, but stood no chance of making it. Sverre Dahl took the final win. In qualifying for 9.90 bike on Saturday Steve Coombs matched up with Fred Furlong and beat him with a holeshot 10.110 to a 9.990. A later examination of the timing data showed that the margain of victory of 0.000134 seconds, or about 0.3 inches. Martin Hill lost the body off the Fireforce 2 Jet Funny Car in the shutdown area on a 5.897/273.17 pass.

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Shakespeare County Raceway. Doorslammer Internationals. This event was run as a RWYB event with entries divided into eight classes. Steve Pateman set about lowering the Custom Car Street Eliminator record with a series of low eight second passes. he began with an 8.383 and then beat it with an 8.317 on the Saturday. On Sunday he went even quicker, advancing to the final round and leaving the record at 8.223. In the final he beat Ian Jackson 8.240/171.76 to 9.260/167.29. Roger Goring put in some mid-six second demonstration passes in the Firestorm Jet Funny Car with a best of 6.390/247.26.

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Santa Pod Raceway. UK National Finals. In Top Methanol Dave Wilson began qualifying with a 5.791/201.94 with an early shut off as smoke came from the engine. In the other lane Steph Milam clocked a 7.455/130.02. She improved on this in the next session, running 6.405/212.73, Wilson shutting off to a 6.094/173.25 after hitting tyre shake. In the third session Wilson improved to a 5.617/250.58. Wilson secured the 2003 MSA Championship title with a 5.722/239.05 win over a 10.444/82.87 from Milam in the final. In Custom Car Street Eliminator the Calibra of Steve Pateman ran a new personal best and new ET record of 8.153/170.71 in the first round of qualifying. The session also saw a personal best of 8.699/162.04 for Andy Frost, and a potential new speed record of 175.07mph from Jon Webster in John Hale's Chevy. He ran 177.51mph in the third session, which was too fast for the new record, but backed up the 175.07. In the second round of eliminations he took a win with a 8.288/176.54 which backed up the 177.51 for another new record. He went on to win the final against Jeff Meads with an 8.174/177.50 to an 8.581/161.13. Funny Bike saw Neil Midgley in line for new ET and speed records with a 6.732/197.24 in the final round of qualifying. However, in the first round of eliminations against Shaun Branch he crossed the centre line and failed to make the records official. Dave Holland took the final win with a 7.046/185.12 to a 7.110/183.82 from Mike Chislett. Super Street Bike saw Graham Dance set a new ACU speed record of 178.86mph with an 8.179/178.63 win in the second round of eliminations. He made it to the final and ran 8.475/174.07, but lost to a slight holeshot from Ivan Birch who won with an 8.476/164.46.

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Shakespeare County Raceway. Big Shootout.

Shakespeare County Raceway. Halloween Showdown.

Santa Pod Raceway. Flame & Thunder. Barry Sheavills returned to Top Fuel in the seat of Knut Soderquist's "red car" for a match race with 2003 FIA Champion Smax Smith. First to the eigth mile was the order of the day. The cold conditions proved to be an issue as both cars hit tyre shake with Sheavills reaching the eigth first in 5.327/110.90 to Smith's 5.747/75.71. At the quarter Sheavills was still ahead, crossing the line in 10.000/77.82 to 12.283/62.94. The Fireforce 1 and 2 Jet Funny Cars, with drivers Tony Baker and Martin Hill, made a handful of passes, with a best of 7.121/224.93 (top speed of the meeting) for Baker, and 6.214/213.05 for Hill. Eric Teboul took his Rocket Bike to times of 6.147/176.20 and 6.587/156.10.

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Las Vegas. NHRA Divisional race. The 2003 FIA Top Methanol Champion Dave Wilson qualified ninth with a best of 5.518/259.16, just missing out on a place in the eight car field.

Pomona. NHRA Finals. Dave Wilson qualified at number 16 with a best time of 5.479/262.13. In the first round he faced number one qualifier Alan Bradshaw. Bradshaw took the win with a holeshot 5.24, but a 5.386/262.74 from Wilson made him the first European Top Methanol driver into the 5.3s, and put him in the top twenty TM drivers in the world.

2003 FIA Champions

2003 UK National & Santa Pod Racers Club Champions

Las Vegas. Dave Wilson ran a best of 5.78s in testing.

Firebird Raceway. Pheonix. National Time Trials Testing. Dave Wilson ran a new personal best terminal speed with a 5.55/262.90 run.

Pomona. NHRA Winternationals. Dave Wilson qualified 13th with a best of 5.543/256.94. The meeting was curtailed by rain and Wilson was unable to attend the rescheduled event as he had to return to the UK.

Firebird Raceway. Pheonix. NHRA Divisional event. Dave Wilson qualified third with a 5.528/256.16. He went out in the first round against Larry Miersch after hitting tyre shake and recording a 5.622 to a winning 5.537

Gainsville. NHRA Gatornationals. Dave Wilson qualified 12th in a 16 car field. In the first round he went out to Mike Gunderson when his blower belt broke at half track.

Tucson. NHRA Divisional event. Dave Wilson became the first European to take a win in the Top Alcohol class in an NHRA event. After an unfortunate first qualifier when a throttle fitting broke Wilson then qualified at number one with a 5.582/247.43. He held the number one spot until the final pass of the final session when he was bumped down to number two. He made his way to the final with the help of a couple of bye runs where he met the number one qualifier, Chris Demke. He took the win with a 5.655/246.84 to a 5.689/250.74. Wilson now stood at second place in the NHRA Top Alcohol Championship.

Las Vegas. NHRA Summitracing.com Nationals. Dave Wilson qualified at number 16 with a 5.761/245.90. In the first round opponent and number one qualifier Joey Severence red lit, handing the win to Wilson who unfortunately suffered a broken lifter and damaged camshaft. After changing the engine with a depleted crew he made it to the second round where he managed a perfect 0.000 reaction time, but overpowered the track.

Santa Pod Raceway. Easter Thunderball. As part of the fourth Pro Fuel Shootout competiton two rookie drivers were making licencing passes in Top Fuel. Norweigan Thomas Nataas was in the seat of one of Rune Fjeld's cars, and Knut Soderquist was supplying another for Dutchman Lex Joon. Andy Carter opened the first round with a 5.400/203.65 after a couple of pedals to try and maintain traction. In the next round he lined up alongside the Showtime Funny Car of John Spuffard and drove through tyre shake to record a 4.943/292.24 as Spuffards tyres went up in smoke at the hit. After the run it was found that the Showtime car had broken a ring & pinion in the rear axle, putting the team out of action for the rest of the meeting. In the final qualifying round Carter and Gordon Smith, in the Shockwave Funny Car were due to run together. Carter's team struggled to get the car started and it finally fired as Smith came back over the start line from his burnout. It was then shut off again to allow Smith a solo run, which resulted in a huge bang at the hit which split the blower in two, lifted the body and sent the pressure relief plate skywards. Thomas Nataas started next, but the crew were unable to detach the starter, the engine evntually being shut down again. Carter then put in his run, a 5.793/172.76 with a pedal due to tyre shake and an early shut off. Lex Joon was next up with a 5.606/182.37 half pass, followed by Nataas with a 5.883/189.13. With both Funny Cars out of action the final it was between the two top qualifying fuellers, Carter and Joon. A holeshot from Carter got him to the finish line first with a 5.049/290.75 to an engine-destroying 5.046/280.95 from Joon who crossed the centre line after the finish. Top Methanol saw Rob Turner qualify at number one with a 5.616/245.05. The only other car in the class was the Funny Car of Doug Ripley, who managed a new personal best of 7.404/175.74. Turner took the final win with a 5.635/242.07, but Ripley beat his personal best again with a 7.021/189.80. Super Modified qualifying began with a new personal best for Tim Garlick of 8.180/169.18 that put him at number one after the first session. In the second he was pushed down to third by an 8.078/169.18 from Steve Rawlings and an 8.151/171.17 from Rob Smallworth. The Oldsmobile of Graham Ellis was being driven by Kev Perkins and took a hard turn into the wall at 1000ft when the radiator cap came loose, putting fluid under one of the slicks. The car was damaged but Kev was OK. Rawlings held on to his first place until the last round, despite a new personal best of 8.086/169.86 from Paul Brooks that put him in the number two spot. In the final session Rob Smallworth leapt over both of them and recorded a 7.997/173.23, the first seven second SM run under the classes new rules. Custom Car Street Eliminator saw Andy Frost take his Red Victor Vauxhall to a new personal best of 8.393/165.36 which put him in the number two spot. Reigning champion Steve Pateman qualified at number four and went out in round two to number one qualifier Wayne Saunders. Round three saw Saunders and Ian Jackson both out of action leaving Andy Frost to take his first win with an 8.574/165.45. Martin Hill put three runs over the three days in the Fireforce II Jet Funny Car with a best of 6.072/212.23. Top Fuel Bike qualifying saw Steve Woolatt make the number one spot with a 6.595/209.16. Antonio Ferretti was number two with a personal best of 7.098/190.85 and another new personal best of 7.394/175.10 from Steve Carey was good enough for third. Ian King made fourth with a 13.322/61.81 that saw a flash of flame and bang from the bike that resulted in a snapped camshaft, split manifold and torched head, along with some bodywork damage. Woolatt improved in the first round with a 6.475/213.11 bye, but he suffered a rear brake failure which prevented him making the finaL. Steve Carey took the honours with an 8.155/156.26, feathering the throttle as the bike drifted to the left. In Funny Bike Neil Midgley got back into the sixes after three rounds of qualifying with a 6.930/189.80 that gave him the number one qualifier spot. Paul Knapp ran a personal best of 7.289/179.29 to take number two. The pair made it to the final where Midgley took the win with a 7.195/182.29 to a 7.267/182.23. In the semi finals Sarah Jane Head took a nasty spill at the top end which resulted in her being airlifted to hospital. Comp Bike saw TJ O'Brien set about repeatedly lowering his personal best, leaving it at 8.015/157.43 which was good enough for number one spot in qualifying. He bettered this again in the final where he took the win with an 8.000/157.15 over a 9.816/106.64 from Vaughan Foster. In Super Street Bike Graham Dance took an early lead in qualifying by being half a second ahead of the rest of the field. He continued to improve on this in each round, ending up at number one with an 8.165/176.25. He made his way to the final and then went quicker again, setting a new ACU Super Street Bike record with an 8.108/166.83 and taking the win over an 8.446/171.89 from Mark Fisher. Eric Teboul put in two runs on his Rocket Bike, a 6.242/182.83 on Sunday and a 5.795/200.96 on Monday, the quickest two-wheeled pass at the track ever.

For all class results click here. For Eurodragster live updates click here.

Houston. NHRA Spring Nationals. Dave Wilson qualified 15th with a 5.486/257.97. In the first round he red lit by nine thousandths. This was the final meeting of the team's US tour.

Shakespeare Country Raceway. Excitement Nationals. The weather played a big part in the weekends proceedings. Saturday was a complete washout and qualifying on Sunday didn't begin until nearly midday. One round of qualifying was completed for each class. On Monday rain in the morning delayed the start until mid-afternoon and there was only enough time to complete the first round of eliminations. Of the two Fuel Funny Cars present only Gordon Smith managed to put a run in, a 9.915/86.79 after his throttle cable broke. John Spuffard brought the Showtime car out, but a broken high side fuel lever prevented him from making a run. In Top Methanol Rob Turner led qualifying with an early shut off 6.413/174.18 following tyre shake. Doug Bond followed with a 6.528/184.48, his first in nine months, Linsay Deuchar was third with a 6.975/197.26, then Doug Ripley at 7.807/166.36 in the CC Racing Funny Car. Trev Capewell was having his first outing in the Southern Rebel Funny Car. He hit tyre shake at the launch and took out the 330' and first eigth mile reflectors. In eliminations Turner took a 5.864/235.79 win over Ripley, who clocked a 6.811/164.90, which was a new personal best. Deuchar had a bye with a 10.269/66.26 after Bond broke. Mickey Moore (Fuel Altered) and Roy Wilding (Supercharged Outlaw Slingshot) held a couple of match races. Wilding took the first with an 8.250/156.85 as Moore got out of shape, pedalled, and ended up in the wrong lane. In the second race Moore got to the other end first with a 7.706/180.48, but a red light handed the win to Wilding with his 8.702/124.63, but at the expense of a broken rod. Paul Brooks led Super Modified with an 8.076/168.90, followed by Rob Smallworth at 8.120/171.66, Andy Kirk at 8.301/169.49, Andy Hone at 8.391/170.41 and Simon Farmer at 8.770/152.03. Other top qualifiers were; Super Pro ET - Ian Tubb, Pro ET - Aiden Kenny, Sportsman ET - Linda Platt, Super Comp - Shaun Lathan, Super Gas - Conrad Stanley, Super Street - Ian Brown, Custom Car Street Eliminator - Ian Jackson (9.604/163.55), Wild Bunch - Joe Stevens, Outlaw Anglia - Pete Ashworth, and Junior Dragster - Ross Norris. Roger Goring put in a couple of passes in his Jet Funny Car, a 6.357/248.18 and a 6.344/250.08, which was a new personal best speed. Top Fuel Bike produced a 7.090/156.83 from Steve Woolatt, who was running a new clutch set up, and a 7.667/174.81 from Steve Carey. For the final only Woolatt made the call and he took a 9.731/100.46 bye for the win. Richard Gipp led Pro Stock Bike with a 7.940/171.00 followed by Len Paget at 8.036/160.21. Gipp took a first round win with a 7.700/174.24. Neil Midgley led the Funny Bike field with a strong 7.078/169.80 with Paul Knapp at number two following his 7.298/183.02 blast. Super Street Bike saw Graham Dance qualify quickest at 8.547/172.10, followed by Peter Bellenie at 8.676/162.03. The other top qualifiers on two wheels were; Comp Bike - Klaus Brinkmann (7.868/164.31), 9.90 Bike - Richard Sawatszski, 10.90 Bike - Shaun Spiers, Supertwin Fuel - Chris Stebbings, Supertwin Gas - Andy Smith, Supertwin Modified - Simon Hodgson, Supertwin Street - Mark Earrey, and Junior Drag Bike - Harry Stedman. Supertwin Modified and Supertwin Fuel each had only two entrants and so the first rounds were also the finals, and both were reduced to bye runs. Simon Hodgson won Modified with a 10.215/139.41, and Ian Turburville took Fuel with a 10.587/128.45.

Entry List

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Santa Pod Raceway. The Speedfreaks Ball. Rain delayed Saturdays start, limiting the track time to six hours, which began at three in the afternoon. In the Top Fuel Bike and Supertwin ranks the first session saw most riders shutting off early. From the Supertwins Ronny Aasen led the pack with a 7.329/186.95, followed by a 7.562/180.20 from Ton Pels and a 9.857/101.37 from Bernie Hepworth. Two Top Fuel Bikes made the session, Roel Koedam ran an 8.699/95.57, shutting off at 300 feet, and Steve Carey with a similar performance clocked a 9.284/95.28. The second session saw Koedam improve to a 6.825/162.57. Aasen lost traction after his front wheel touched down, a 7.753/182.41 was the result. Carey hit tyre shake and backed off to a coasting 113.264/60.32 and Pels smoked the slick on the launch before coasting then nailing it to a 9.409/182.07. On Sunday Steve Woolatt joined the pack and put in a 7.460/136.83, losing traction at the 400ft mark. Pels improved to a 7.391/174.44, Hepworth ran 10.048/94.96 with a sick engine and Carey improved slightly to an 8.215/168.54. Koedam went up in smoke on the launch and coasted through. Aasen however put in a 6.960/198.86 to put him in the final with Koedam. Despite a good start from Aasen it was Koedam that took the win, 6.527/190.82 to 7.650/181.60. Two sessions from the Super Street Bikes on Saturday produced an 8.540/172.40 from Mark Fisher to lead the pack. Steve Venables ran a best of 8.560/178.38 in the second session, his best yet on his new bike. Jamie Sneddon almost joined the pair in the eights with a 9.001/142.80, and Pete Bellenie put in a 9.038/160.19. Best times for the other riders were Dave Smith - 9.057, Richard Stubbins - 9.134/171.70, Rachael Pattison - 9.352/152.11 and Dave Bailey - 9.705/161.85. Sunday saw three more sessions with many of the riders improving their times. The first saw an impressive 8.078/179.27 from Fisher which was quicker than the class record, an 8.715/177.31 from Venables, an 8.737/171.05 from Stubbins, an 8.802/166.14 from Chris Reed and an 8.978/162.40 from Pattison. Improving more in the second round were Stubbins with an 8.432/174.35 and Venables with an 8.503/177.13. Fisher and Venables paired up in the RWYB between rounds and ran 8.360/177.15 and 8.341/186.00 respectively. Venables massive terminal speed eclipsed the class record. Eric Teboul made two passes on his Rocket Bike, a 6.819/151.96 on Saturday and a 6.204/172.34 on Sunday. Tony Baker put in a 7.790/177.85 in the Fireforce 1 Jet FC on Saturday. He later raced Martin Hill who took the win in Fireforce 2 with a 6.134/217.29 to an 8.068/171.61.Germany's Roger Kirchner put in two passes in his Jet FC, a 10.123/155.21 on Saturday and a similar 10.769/161.39 on Sunday.

Santa Pod Raceway. The Main Event. Eight cars were entered in Top Fuel and the first qualifying session saw Andy Carter take an early lead with a 4.987/284.34 in a close pairing with Tommy Moller, who put in a 4.997/266.09. Joran Persaker was the only other driver to put in a run, a 5.295/209.25. Session two saw three more drivers put in a run. They were Micke Kagerad (10.357/52.37, Jon Webster (6.007/156.25) and Lex Joon (7.660/156.25). The third round saw Carter improve further with a 4.877/306.36, new speed and ET records if he could back them up. Webster ran new personal bests of 5.417/258.94. Kagerad improved to a 5.754/168.54 and Thomas Nataas made his first qualifying run with a 6.504/123.98 half pass. Smax Smith was shut off on the line when a fluid leak was spotted, leaving him only one more attempt at qualifying. In the final session he made the field with a 9.436/83.80, shutting off after the launch. None of the other drivers improved on their earlier times. In eliminations Carter defeated Smith. 4.888/245.74 to 4.963/286.56, this backed up his earlier 4.877 for a new European Record and was the quickest side-by-side race in Europe so far. Kagerad then defeated Webster, 5.297/211.63 to a 7.731/95.53, and Moller beat Joon with a 5.064/272.65 to a 5.294/221.53. Nataas cruised to a bye win after Persaker was shut down for a missing restraint on the engine. The semi finals saw Carter reset his ET record with a 4.832/306.33, which also backed up his previous 306.36 for the speed record. Kagerad in the other lane went up in smoke as tyre shake deployed his chute. Moller won the other semi with a 9.104/80.79 as Nataas red lit his way to an 8.002/102.24. In the final Carter red lit as Moller put in a 5.500/185.26 which saw the blower belt give up at half track. Fuel Funny Car saw John Spuffard qualify at number one with a 5.916/163.54. Leif Helander was second with a 7.133/124.25 followed by Gordon Smith with a 9.732/92.96. In eliminations Helander took his first competative Fuel FC round win over Smith with a 9.806/75.03 to a 10.103/93.75, both cars hitting tyre shake and shutting off early. Spuffard on his bye run got close to the wall and shut off to record a 10.046/84.63. In the final Spuffard took the win with a 6.087/156.81 early shut off to a clutch destroying 14.196/43.78 from Helander. Top Methanol Dragster had three entries and Dave Wilson took the number one qualifing spot with a 5.508/251.41, followed by Rob Turner with a 5.515/246.08 and Peter Schofer with a 5.544/254.82. Turners second qualifier resulted in a cracked rear axle mounting. With the car repaired overnight Schofer then defeated Turner in the first round of eliminations with a 5.742/230.73 as Turners engine went up in flames and he slowed to a 7.078/114.21, which required treatment in hospital for burns to his neck. Wilson put in a 5.458/255.57 bye for his place in the final, which he won with a 5.477/247.45 to Schofer's 5.868/251.67. Top Methanol Funny Car saw Leif Andreasson debut his new Dodge Stratus. He took the lead in qualifying in round two with a 5.906/208.47. Second was Arvid Grodem with a new personal best of 5.959/236.89 having sideswiped the wall on his first run. By the end of the third session Andreasson was relegated to number four as Dan Larsen and Urs Erbacher ran together and clocked 5.852/236.88 and 5.861/243.67 respectively. Niclas Andersson made number three with a 5.903/239.78. These times stood at the end of the final round. Ulf Leanders ran a 6.801/140.22 in the final session which resulted in a fire at the top end when his engine block split in half from front ot back. He got the car stopped safely and was unhurt. Freddy Fagerstrom donated a complete engine to the team in order to get them back on track, which they did. In eliminations Larsen took a 5.954/236.84 bye, Grodem defeated Andreassson with another PB of 5.922/240.75 to a 6.113/222.79. Erbacher beat Jurgen Nagel, 5.751/244.69 to 7.186/196.47 and Ulf Leanders defeated Andersson 6.352/161.95 to a red lighting 5.877/240.38. The semi finals saw Larsen continue with a 5.877/239.01 win over a 6.098/235.64 from Grodem, and Urbacher defeated Leanders with a 5.763/246.08 to a 6.265/171.06. In the final both cars quickly hit tyre shake, Larsen going up in smoke and out of shape as Erbacher pedalled his way to a 6.377/235.43 win over a 6.874/219.34. Pro Modified produced a whopping 18 entries, with only three being UK racers. Patrick Wikstrom took the lead in qualifying in his Camaro during the second session with a 6.382/215.63, and kept hold of it through the remaing two sessions. Hakan Nilsson secured the number two spot in his Camaro in the final session with a 6.428/215.34. Third was Freddy Fagerstrom with a 6.527/213.00 from session two. Session three saw him put in a 7.032/191.51 after driving through tyre shake that dislodged the drivers door leaving it lying on the track. Highest placing for the Brits was Bert Englefield at number five with a new personal best of 6.620/215.35. John Ellis and Andy Robinson were numbers 15 and 16 with 7.274/189.74 and 7.353/169.84. In eliminations Robinson improved dramatically with a 6.834/182.77 but with a red light. Wikstrom took the win with a 6.389/216.26, backing up his 215.63mph for a new European record. Englefield defeated Hakan Fallstrom with a new personal best speed of 216.66 in 6.632s. John Ellis suffered a nitrous burp as he began his burnout and, having restarted, had a repeat of the same problem, leaving Nilsson to take a solo win at 6.441/209.40. Fagerstrom advanced to the next round with a 6.565/216.20 win over a 7.567/155.05 from Robert Kopner. Other first round winners were Peter Wacker, who was into the sixes for the first time, Henri Joosten, Peter Kunc and Roger Johansson. Round two saw Fallstrom brought back in after Englefield was judged to have made a technical infringement involving using a second battery connected with jump leads. He took the win against Johansson with a 6.855/199.86 to a 7.726/126.74 after Johansson's car turned hard right after tyre shake. Wikstrom soloed to a shaking pedalling and smoking 13.076/68.90 after Kunc failed to show, having suffered piston damage in the previous round. After a long burndown Wacker took a win over Fagerstrom, 6.814/193.13 to 6.917/162.45 as Fagerstrom aborted the run early and pulled the chutes. Oil was found in Fagerstrom's lane in the shutdown area subsequently and proceedings were brought to a halt as Nilsson and Joosten were both burning out. In the re-run Nilsson soloed to a 6.473/209.15, but Joosten appealed the outcome due to the disruption and was rewarded with another re-run. This was won by Nilsson with a 6.435/214.38 to a 6.723/203.01. The semi finals saw Wikstrom defeat Fallstrom, 6.466/218.26 to 6.853/203.60. With burnouts completed Wacker and Nilsson were shut down after oil was spotted in the lane Fallstrom had taken. After re-starting Nilsson pulled a red light on a 6.424/214.45 leaving Wacker to head to the final with a 6.849/214.45. He then took the win with a 6.900/197.15 after Wikstrom had problems and shut off early to a 7.561/128.61. Pro Stock saw Jimmy Alund set new European records of 6.938s and 199.19mph in the first two rounds of qualifying. This kept him at the number one qualifing spot until Michael Malmgren ran 6.910/198.03 in the final session. A 6.986/197.39 in a first round defeat against Tommy Leindahl's 7.104/193.11 wasn't close enough for Malmgren to take Alund's record, but it gave him a bye to the final in the next round. Alund advanced to the semis with a 7.192/196.71 win over a 7.214/190.63 from Kenneth Soderstrom, and Mag nus Hansson ran 6.995/196.68 to defeat Jackie Hansen who had gear selection issues having run a new personal best of 7.07s in qualifying. In the semis Alund took a 6.946/199.11 to 7.034/195.87 win over Hansson and Malmgren soloed to a 7.002/197.55. In the final Alund got the quicker start but Malmgren took the win with a 6.938/198.27 to a 6.989/199.17. Top Fuel Bike saw Roel Koedam run 6.293/218.53 in the second session of qualifying which kept him at the number one spot for the duration. Eric Teboul ran a new personal best of 6.400/189.85 in the third session for number two spot. Steve Woolatt, having led qualifying in the first session with a 6.529/204.74, failed to improve and finished at number three. Koedam got caught out by a holeshot from Gary Jones in round one of eliminations, and then had his slick go up in smoke. He was off and back on with the throttle and managed to catch and pass Jones, taking the win with a 7.147/214.33 to a 7.758/160.63. Woolatt had similar problems smoking the slick at the start, then regaining traction and attempting to catch Antonio Ferretti, a 7.397/202.89 from Woolatt wasn't enough to catch a 7.165/181.29 from Ferretti. Eric Teboul was another Top Fuel rider to smoke the tyre on the launch, he failed to regain traction and coasted to a 14.812/44.73 as Shaun Branch took an 8.925/96.34 win, but was later disqualified, allowing Teboul to progress. Neil Midgley also advanced to the semi finals with a 6.933/184.94 after opponent Nils Ole Lund was shut down after his burnout. In the semis Ferretti failed to make the call and Teboul took an easy 21.963/65.25 route to the final. Koedam defeated Midgley in a close match up after a great start for Midgley, 6.492/211.24 to 6.827/186.01. The final was an anti climax as Teboul was shut off after his burnout and Koedam soloed to a 7.929/112.71. Supertwin saw the return of Anders Karling after a year off. He led qualifying through all four rounds with a best of 6.604/182.11. Ton Pels was number two with a 6.691/202.56 and Ronny Aasen ran a new personal best of 6.752/200.78 for third. Karling, Aasen and Hans Van Olstad, who ran a new personal best of 7.264/188.20 in qualifying, all took first round wins. In the match up between Pels and Stefan Junerud a short burndown was followed by Junerad launching as Pels moved into stage. Pels then launched before the lights ran, and so both riders were disqualified. This gave Aasen a bye in the semi finals, which resulted in a loud bang from the engine as he left the line. Van Olstad then took a win as Karling shut off early, 7.412/185.77 to 11.617/64.07. In the final Aasen's bike appeared to be suffering and he shut off early to a 14.545/63.29, leaving Van Olstad to take his first ever event win with a 7.292/190.67. Pro Stock Bike saw 2003 European Champion Roger Pettersson dominate qualifying, finishing at number one with a 7.470/179.09. Chris Hope was number two with a 7.735/165.35 and Paul Watson was at number three with 7.758/166.83. Hope, Watson and Martin Bishop all took first round wins, along with Pettersson, who ran the low ET of the round with a 7.490/175.71 defeat over an 8.081/155.73 from Helen Curran. He improved further in the semis with a 7.351/178.58 defeat of Bishop's 7.841/165.46. Watson then ran 7.694/164.66 to take the win over a 7.996/168.57 from Hope. In the final it was Pettersson who took the honours with a 7.372/167.30 to a 7.688/167.30 from Watson. Martin Hill made some demonstration runs in the Fireforce 2 Jet Funny Car, with a best ET of 6.024s at 260.00MPH, and a fastest speed of 264.79MPH in 6.063s.

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Shakespeare County Raceway. Power Nationals. Andy Carter and Thomas Nataas put on a Top Fuel match race consisting of two rounds run on the Sunday. In the first both cars smoked the tyres before the 330' mark, both drivers pedalled, regained traction, then went up in smoke again, Nataas shuttting off and Carter pedalling again to take the win with a 6.533/148.49 to a 7.566/110.53. Nataas suffered a blackened crank and didn't make the second race, which saw Carter solo to an early shut-off 6.416/139.95 after another tyre smoking run. In Super Modified Andy Hone led the qualifying from the first session with a 7.828/172.43. Tim Garlick made the number two spot steadily improving to a 7.927/169.51, a new personal best and his first seven second ticket. In round one of eliminations Kev Perkins and Paul Brooks ran new personal bests of 7.991 and 8.010 respectively. The semi final field was reportedly the quickest ever with two seven second cars and two 8.0s. Brooks left way too early, leaving Hone to advance to the final, and Perkins defeated Rob Smallworth with an 8.025/177.10 to join him. In the final round it was another personal best from Perkins to take the win with a 7.884/164.96 to Hone's 7.917/172.51. In Super Comp Malcolm Francis debuted his new 2004 Pontiac Grand Am and qualified at number three with a 9.127/139.76. Chris Johnson was at number one with a 9.055/154.10 and Shaun Lathan at two with a 9.067/151.85. Johnson and Lathan both made their way to the final where it was Lathan who triumphed with a 9.112/151.16 over a 9.620/147.01. Custom Car Street Eliminator saw Ian Hook make the number two qualifier spot in the final session after a transmission fluid leak in the first session caused him to miss the second. His 8.728s and 165.07mph were both new personal bests. Steve Nash was number one qualifier with an 8.295/172.96 in the second session. Both drivers made it to the final where Hook took the win, resetting his personal best again with an 8.670s at 164.84mph to an 8.658/170.51 from Nash. Qualifying in the bike ranks was affected by a cross wind in the shut down area on Saturday. Dave Bailey took the lead in Funny Bike qualifying in the first session with a 7.709/161.46 but parted company with the bike after the finish line. He walked away virtually unscathed but further sessions for the bikes were run over the eighth mile. His eighth mile time of 4.833/145.15 was still good enough for the number two spot at the end of the day. Neil Midgley took the number one spot with a 4.603/158.00 and went on to win the elimination with a 7.243/177.91 over an 8.173/120.93 from Stu Chamberlain. Steve Woolatt and Steve Carey contested the Top Fuel Bike class. Woolatt ran the best numbers in qualifying with a 4.455/173.75, Carey with a 4.759/145.63. On Sunday the pair ran an exhibition warm up race which Woolatt took with a 6.929/186.85 to a 7.339/181.36. In the elimination final it was Woolatt again who was victorious with a 6.602/215.77 to an 8.553/116.33. Super Street Bike saw Steve Venables qualify at number one with a 5.374/142.86, win the final against Graham Dance, 8.230/176.44 to 8.408/177.96, and set a new ACU speeed record along the way of 185.97mph. Ian Turburville took the Supertwin Fuel win having set new personal bests of 9.313s and 144.09mph in the first round, increasing his lead in the NAST championship. Roger Goring put in two passes in the Firestorm Jet Funny Car on Sunday. A 6.300/252.07 was followed up by a 6.352/248.22 which ended with the car putting two wheels off the edge of the track in the shutdown area after hitting a bump as the 'chutes deployed. The car suffered only minor bodywork damage.

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Santa Pod Raceway. Summer Nationals. Qualifying on Saturday was affected by rain on a couple of occasions, allowing only an hour and a half of on track action. In Custom Car Street Eliminator Colin Lazenby ran a new personal best of 8.324/176.41 to lead qualifying. In Super Pro ET Mark Flavell ran a new personal best of 7.3 which was unfortunate as it was too quick for his 7.5s tagged chassis. On Sunday the Super Modified class saw Andy Hone finish at the top of the qualifying with a 7.843/170.89 in the final session, second was Rob Smallworth with a 7.878/172.31. Paul Brooks made the number four spot with a new personal best of 7.982/169.06. After a number of breakages in eliminations it was Smallworth and number three qualifier Tim Garlick who made it to the final. Smallworth took the win with a 7.890/172.39 after Garlick broke. Top Methanol saw two cars in attendance, Doug Ripley and Trev Capewell who was licencing. His 6.582/161.80 in the second qualifying session got the job done. For the final Capewell's starter pack failed, leaving Ripley to take the honours with an 8.414/104.14 half pass. In the late afternoon a strong sidewind materialised which led to the decision being made that it was too dangerous to continue with the motorcycle eliminations. Martin Hill put in two passes in the Fireforce 2 Jet Funny Car, a 6.733/207.18 and a 6.170/239.33.

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Eurodragster Live Coverage

London City Airport. Motorsports Promotions Bike Sprint. After the final scheduled flight had departed the crew began setting the track up and were ready to start running at 3pm. On-track action continued until 7pm. Some initial concerns over the length of the shutdown area, which terminated at the edge of the river Thames, were soon proven to be unfounded as riders managed to stop well before taking an early bath. Steve Woolatt with The Dealer Top Fuel Bike put in a single pass on the unprepped concrete track, the rear slick refusing to light up during the burnout. On the run the rear struggled to find grip, the primary belt broke, the revs rose and Woolatt quickly shut off to record a 7.31/186. The other Top Fueler present, the Purple Princess of Steve Carey similarly failed to gain much traction and he laid down a 9.23/129.1. Bernie Hepworth put in an early shut off 9.6 on his nitro Supertwin V Twin, and John Hobbs ran an 8.99/162.7 on The Hobbit. A second outing for Hobbs saw him shut off after the burnout with mechanical problems. Among the Super Street Bike entries was Graham Dance who ran an 8.88/157 before bettering it with an 8.78/158, the fastest time of the day for a non-exhibition bike. SSB racer Brad O'Connor took the highest speed with a 9.04/162. One car was present at the event, the Super Pro ET dragster of Paul Harvey. After two attempts at a burnout he laid down a 9.52/144.8 before returning later to run 9.33/147.8.

Mantorp Park. Sweden. Veidec Nitro Festival. In the quickest ever European Top Fuel field Andy Carter was number one qualifier with new track records of 4.760s and 497.07 (308.86mph), the only driver to break into the four second zone. The time and speed, if backed up, would be new European records. However in the first round the car lost traction and, despite a valiant pedalling effort from Carter, it was Micke Kagered who took the win, 4.841/462.19 (287.19mph) to 5.134/461.22 (286.58mph). Kagerad went on to win the event. Smax Smith qualified at number six with a 5.174/428.25 (266.10mph). After a bye in the first round he left early in the semis, handing the win to Joran Persaker. In Top Methanol Dragster Dave Wilson and Rob Turner qualified at numbers one and three with a 5.463/415.82 (258.37mph) and a 5.864/391.51 (243.27mph) respectively. Wilson's ET was a new track record. The pair met in the semi finals where Wilson took the win with a 5.517/413.23 (256.76mph) to a 5.648/407.85 (253.42mph). Peter Schofer took the final win with a 5.518/410.18 (254.87mph) to Wilson's 5.554/412.10 (256.06mph). Pro Modified saw Andy Robinson make the number eight spot in the sixteen car field with a 6.613/341.97 (212.49mph). He made it to the semi-finals before pulling a red light against Mats Eriksson. Gordon Appleton failed to qualify. Zane Llewelyn made it to the final of Super Comp where he pulled a red light, handing the win to Jonas Staflund, 8.954/236.15 (146.73mph) to 11.210/175.83 (109.25mph). Dave Cherratt  qualified at number two in Super Street with a 10.903/151.89, just one thousandth of a second behind Elisabeth Bredal. He went out in the third round. Shaun Branch ran a 7.729/282.65 (175.63mph) to qualify at number seven in Top Fuel Bike. A broken belt in the first round saw him lose out to eventual runner-up Sverre Dahl. Pro Stock Bike saw Helen Curran and Chris Hope take the numbers five and six spots with 7.678/271.49 (168.69mph) and 7.697/280.35 (174.20mph) respectively. Hope went out in the first round while Curran lost out to Roger Petterson in the semis as he set a new track record.

Eurodragster Live Coverage

Gardermoen, Norway. NDRG Drag Challenge. In Top Fuel the first round of qualifying was declared null and void after problems with the timing system. Smax Smith ran a new personal best of 4.880s to take the number one qualifying spot. Andy Carter made the number seven spot with a best effort of 6.93 at 194mph before going out in the first round to Thomas Nataas. Smith's event ended in the semi-finals when his blower belt let go. In Top Methanol Rob Turner ran a 5.7s in the first round of qualifying while Dave Wilson broke a blower belt. Wilson then ran a terminal speed of 435.10kph (270.36mph), making him the first TM in Europe to run over 270mph. He went on to win the event.

Hockenheim, Germany. Nitro Olympics. The inclusion of Hockenheim meant that for the first time the FIA/FIM European Championships would be held over six events. In Top Fuel Smax Smith went out in the first round with a 5.44 against a 5.436 from Lex Joon. Andy Carter qualified third with a 5.53. He took a first round win with a 5.34/449 (278mph) against Joran Persaker and went out to Tommy Moller in the semi-finals, overpowering the track and clocking an 8.81/165 (102mph) to a 5.37/447.40 (278mph). Shortly after this weekend Smax announced that he would be returning to Canada in October but planned to still race in Europe next year. Top Methanol saw Dave Wilson and Rob Turner both make it to the final. Turner took the win, 5.60/408.07 (253mph) to 5.81/396.38 (246mph)but Wilson gained enough points to secure the Championship title for the second year running.

Shakespeare County Raceway. Allstar Nationals. Qualifying on Saturday saw the Shockwave Fuel Funny Car of Gordon Smith break a rod and launch the blower at the hit while John Spuffard put in an early shut off 7.839/107.99. In Top Methanol Trev Capewell pedalled through tyre shake then drifted across the centre line at half track, before getting back into his own lane and recording a 6.724/177.49, a new personal best which was unfortunately disqualified due to the centre line violation. Plenty of other racers were setting personal bests too, they were; Kev Taylor (Super Modified) 8.599, Steve Carey (Top Fuel Bike) 7.075, Steve Woolatt (Top Fuel Bike) 218.50mph, Vaughan Foster (Comp Bike) 7.792, Martin Bishop (Pro Stock Bike) twice with a 7.679 followed by a 7.641, Paul Watson (Pro Stock Bike) 7.451, T J O'Brien (Comp Bike) 7.666, Roland Chaplain (Comp Bike) 8.677 and Les Harris (Supertwin Gas) 10.044. In VW Alternate Engine Lee Darby also ran a new PB of 8.8545/144.76, on a 9.50 dial-in! George Laycock made the number two spot in Supertwin Gas in the first round of qualifying, and ran the first half of a new class speed record with a 9.620/138.45. Later on he moved up to number one with a 9.486s run and a 140.89mph terminal speed to back up the new record and become the first into the 9.4s. Roger Goring put in a checkout pass in the Firestorm Jet Funny Car, rolling through the staging beam but clocking a 191.55mph terminal speed. Sunday saw further qualifying until the early afternoon when rain stopped play. In Super Street Bike Steve Venables ran a new track record speed of 192.93mph. The Jet Funny Cars ran shortly after midday, Goring recording a 6.373/251.55 before Martin Hill took Fireforce 2 to a 5.957/270.27. On Monday the Fuel Funny Cars lined up for side by side solo runs. Once again the Shockwave car popped the blower at the hit as the Showtime car quickly hit tyre shake and was shut off. In the final pair-up Spuffard pulled a red light before hitting tyre shake and shutting off. Smith also hit shake before pedalling his way to the win with a 13.287/64.73. Round One of Top Methanol saw Trev Capewell run new personal bests of 6.261s and 218.39mph in his defeat of Doug Bond. He went on to meet Lindsay Deuchar in the final. This time he hit violent tyre shake and shut off as Deuchar took the win with a 6.389/196.82. The first round of Super Gas eliminations saw the  Tokyo Toy Toyota of Steve Dunn roll multiple times after crossing the finish line. Dunn was taken to hospital and kept in for observations but pronounced fit and well. The final of Custom Car Street Eliminator saw Steve Nash take the final win with an 8.935/170.77 as opponent Colin Lazenby red lit with an 8.525 at a new speed record of 178.47mph after recording 177.72mph in the semi-finals. Due to a strong crosswind the bike eliminations took place over the 1/8 mile, thus denying Steve Woolatt the chance of backing up his 218.50mph  from Saturday's qualifying run for a new ACU Top Fuel Bike speed record. His opponent for the event title, Steve Carey, parted company with his bike at low speed after his burnout leaving Woolatt to take the win with a 5.368/106.64. The two Jet Funny Cars put in two more passes, both shutting off at 1000ft due to the crosswind. Goring ran 6.544/194.65 in Firestorm, and Hill ran 6.033/239.31 in Fireforce 2. Later Goring ran a 6.465/203.40.

Class Results

Eurodragster Live Updates

Santa Pod Raceway. European Finals. Top Fuel saw no less than four drivers start with a mathematical chance of taking the championship title. Tommy Moller took an early lead in qualifying on Friday with a 5.024/261.67 in the first session. The second session on Friday night was halted after Smax Smith put in a slippery 9.052/90.18 pass. In the next session on Saturday Thomas Nataas took the top spot with a 4.992/288.79. The only UK driver in with a chance of the championship, Andy Carter, remained in eighth spot with a best of 10.943/59.78. The other contenders, Joran Persaker and Micke Kagerad were numbers three and five with 5.088/257.32 and 6.021/128.24. Lex Joon was getting closer to his first four with a 5.193/260.03 that put him in fourth spot. He got closer still in the final session with a 5.03/294.15, but Andy Carter went to the top with a 4.983/295.74. It transpired that Carter's tactics had been to qualify at number eight in the hope that Kagerad, the points leader, would be at number one so they would meet in the first round. When it became uncertain that this would materialise as hoped he then changed his plan to qualify at number one, set low ET and win the event. In his first round match up with Smax both drivers left early, Smith first on a 4.996/227.38 and Carter with a 5.149/226.96. Carter took the win. Nataas also progressed to the next round with a 5.007/298.98 win over a personal best 5.057/271.28 from Jon Webster. This was the closest European Top Fuel race on record with a win margin of 0.000556s, or 2.746 inches. Kagerad had a slick blow at the finish line after an engine explosion but he took a 5.078/264.73 win over a 6.702/135.98 from Moller who lost a blower belt. Joon ended Persaker's championship hopes with another new personal best of 5.002/288.72 to a 5.216/274.59. In the semis Carter pedalled his way to a 5.330/211.24 defeat of Joon and Nataas ran 5.004/292.16 to a 7.017/119.29 from Kagerad who lost a blower pulley. The final would decide the championship. If Carter won he would take the title, if Nataas won then Kagerad would be champion. It was Carter who made it to the finish first, both drivers hitting tyre shake, 5.236/296.13 to 5.539/264.79. This made him the first driver to win the European title twice. Fuel Funny Car saw John Spuffard and Gordon Smith meet in the final in a race to decide the championship. Smith got away first and both drivers had to pedal to gain traction before a flash of flame from the Showtime car ended Spuffard's race. Smith took the win, and the championship, 5.493/234.47 to 6.617/142.97. Top Methanol saw Dave Wilson qualify at number one with a 5.472/254.30, followed by Peter Schofer with 5.536/254.58 and Rob Turner with 5.553/238.18. After a first round bye Wilson took the final win with a 5.457/255.34 to Schofer's 5.594/245.84. Top Methanol Funny Car saw Urs Erbacher take the championship title despite losing the final to Ulf Leanders. Pro Modified saw the Santa Pod debut of Patrik Pers with his '63 Corvette who planned to use the meeting as a test session. He qualified fourth in the nineteen car field with a 6.484/218.34. He made it to the semi-finals where he lost the propshaft in his race against Patrick Wikstrom. Wilkstrom had qualified with a 6.327/222.64 which was a couple of thousandths off his own European record. In the other semi Hakan Nilsson took the win against Christer Jacobs with a 6.450/216.67 to a 6.473/216.49. Nilssson was now the 2004 champion but it was Wikstrom who took the event win over an out-of-shape run from Nilsson, 6.331/221.81 to 7.191/205.80. Round Two of Pro Stock eliminations saw Kenneth Soderstrom's car take a hard left turn and hit the guardrail head-on, causing the fuel tank to errupt in flames, before bouncing across the track causing opponent Ulf Jonsson to take evasive action before taking the win. Soderstrom was unhurt. Johnsson met Jimmy Alund in the final and ran 7.126/191.46 to Alund's winning 6.974/196.44. Alund took the 2004 championship title. Super Pro ET qualifying saw new personal bests for Custom Car Street Eliminator racers John Sleath and Jerry Charles with a 8.399 and a 9.099 respectively. T J O'Brien beat his personal best from a couple of weeks earlier with a 7.605/166.79 in the first qualifying round of FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike. He made the field at number eight. Roel Koedam took the number one spot with a 6.264/206.21, followed by Ian King who ran 6.627/189.18 in the final session, pushing Steve Woolatt down to number three with his 6.666/205.46. In the first round King's bike lost a belt during the burnout ending his weekend. Woolatt ran 6.629/211.95 to defeat Shaun Branch and Koedam defeated O'Brien with a 6.368/208.65 to a troubled 9.353/117.18. Woolatt progressed to the final by staging in the semis when Steve Carey failed to show. Antonio Ferretti ran 7.130/198.28 to defeat Koedam's 7.608/143.75, but Koedam took the 2004 championship title. A 6.655/200.08 from Woolatt took the event win over a 7.127/198.20 from Ferretti. In FIM/UEM Supertwin Anders Karling took the number one qualifying spot with a 6.547/201.72, but in the final session he side-swiped the guardrail at the top end and sustained an ankle injury which prevented him from competing in the eliminations. This handed the championship title to Ton Pels who went on to win the event with a 6.638/203.50 over a 9.784/89.12 from Ronny Aasen whose engine cut out early. Chris Hope made it to the Pro Stock Bike final but was runner up to number one qualifier and 2004 champion Roger Pettersson. Martin Hill entertained the crowds with the Fireforce 2 Jet Funny Car, running a weekend best of 6.108/234.39.

Class Results

Eurodragster Live Updates

Santa Pod Raceway. UK National Finals. Overnight rain meant a late start on Saturday. Dave Wilson was licencing for Top Fuel in one of Knut Soderquist's cars. His first couple of attempts were aborted with oil leaking from the engine. A 330ft pass followed later resulting in an 8.478/105.33. (Rain prevented any further passes but Wilson completed his licencing the following weekend at SPR's Japanese Performance Show with a 5.360/205.51). Top Methanol saw only one entry, that of Lindsay Deuchar. He put in one run, a weaving 6.501/201.70. Custom Car Street Eliminator saw Colin Lazenby take an early lead in qualifying with a new personal best of 8.247/176.57. John Sleath was second with an 8.480/180.06, the first half of a new class speed record if he could back it up. This was the last year that Custom Car magazine sponsored the series and racers and promotors began to discuss how the class could proceed in the future. Ian Jackson won the championship title for 2004. Top Fuel Bike saw Ian King and Antonio Ferretti come to the line for a side-by-side qualifier. Ferretti's engine quit soon after the launch while King ran a 6.759/183.84. Unfortunately the rain moved back in and put an end to Saturdays session. Sunday saw a similar situation, most classes got another round of qualifying in but the rain came back around 1300hrs and the meeting was called by 1500hrs.

Eurodragster Live Reports

Shakespeare County Raceway. Halloween Showdown. Martin Hill took the Firforce 2 Jet Funny Car to new track records of 5.812s (their third quickest time ever) and 277.45mph, which was their fastest ever terminal speed. The car had been dogged with handling problems all year, causing the front to lift at the top end of the track but modifications to the body before this meeting proved to be effective. Eurodragster editor Tog took to the driving seat of Nev Mottershead's Super Gas Toyota Supra after plans for him to drive Paul Marston's "Grumpy's Dodge" fell through. He ran an 11.450/115.03 and a later run saw the car overpower the track and swerve left then right before idling down the track.

Santa Pod Raceway. Flame & Thunder. Another wet weekend meant that racing was limited. Qualifying was completed for only three classes. Thomas Nataas ran a 9.376/85.77 in less than ideal conditions to defeat a 15.679/88.72 from Andy Carter.

Gainsville. Florida. UK riders Dave Beck and Steve Venables were in action at the AMA/Prostar World Finals. Beck qualified at number seven with a 6.938/189.39 and made it to the third round of Pro Mod Bike eliminations. Venables ran 8.001/188.48 in Streetbike Shootout and went out in the first round. He had previously run a new personal best of 7.69/190 in testing.

European Champions 2004

UK National Champions 2004

ACU & NAST Champions 2004