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17:30

Smax Smith said that, living near Toronto in Ontario, Canada there are three tracks within 90 minutes drive from his home. "There is an IHRA race later this year and I will be helping Todd Paton's Top Fuel team; I have been helping a fuel funny car team as well." In addition to this involvement, Smax has put together an 11-second altered for son Aidan. "We have got the truck and trailer painted as if for a full sponsor. How cool is that for a 17 year old?" Smax is also working on a potential reality TV project with Insight, a production company that has attracted corporate US money and secured broadcasting rights to make a programme. Smax hopes the programme will include his racing activities if sufficient footage is available. "One of the reasons to race this weekend is to keep my activities current." Smax would love to race in North America, but is looking for a suitable deal, which TV exposure would boost considerably.

On his racing plans in the UK, Smax said "2005 was a disappointment because the car was ready by Easter but we didn't have the luck that sometimes you need. At the Main Event we qualified but went out first round with a faulty clutch. At the Euro Finals, we were qualified no. 9 and then the rains came. The main change to the car is addition of an AFT clutch cannon and some more spares, such as a new engine block. We have also rebuilt the trailer awning to attract sponsors. I hope we will be able to run at the Bulldog Bash which will give us TV exposure for new sponsors." The McDonald brothers have acquired some sponsors as well as the Bulldog Bash support: Double Two as a shirt sponsor, www.prolink-radio.com, The Signshop, 1st Stop Bodyshop and Fastco UK. Team support comes from car owners Stuart and Richard MacDonald with Supercrew of Robin, Steve, Tet, Ray, Kirsty, Mark, Brian, Steve on PR and Sarah on car backup duties.

Michael Malmgren said "We are very excited to have signed a multi-year deal with Lahega, a company that supplies car care products. The company is very big in Scandinavia and is currently looking to expand into the UK." Michael said that some Lahega executives will be attending the FIA Main Event. We also welcome Oakley who are supplying full team clothing support, which is very nice. I also have a mix of twenty US performance parts manufacturers who supply us with the best products available to make us competitive."

Michael said "We have changed the setup a little, and although we were unable to run at the Peak Performance day due to the weather, we tested successfully at Meca in Sweden and ran successfully to 330 foot. We have had two new members join us, Anders Wall and Jimmy Malm, they have brought additional energy to the team, which also consists of Mats Jörleby, crew chief Heikki Pavinainen, our chef Roger "Kooken" Larsson. At home, helping with testing and daily work at the shop is long time crew member Magnus Cato and also Tommy Hansen."

As I type this the first Pro qualifying session has commenced, so we will be back later with pit notes after this session. Stay tuned.

14:30

Nigel Payne is back this season after being out for nearly three years following a blown motor. The '62 Corvette named "Sticky Situation" usually runs in Super Mod, but is in the giant Super Pro entry for this event. "We came here to test for Super Mod rounds later in the year and have found ourselves in no. 3 position with an 8.208", said Nigel. The rebuilt big block Chevy displacing 555ci has twin Dominator carbs and runs without nitrous, one of only two such cars in Super Mod (the other being Ian Marshall's Highlander Camaro). "It's a big learning curve all over again as it's only our second meeting with this combination", said Nigel. The chassis is dates back to 1984, having previously run in Pro Mod, and has been modified by Jon Webster. Dale Edmonds of Drag Race Engineering made the custom body to fit, and Nigel has done all the other work on the car with the team. Sponsorship support has come from Nimbus Motorsports for this season. Thanks also go to team members brother Russell Payne (who also finances the race operation), Graham Barrs (crew chief), Dale Edmonds, Kyle Chesterman and family members wife Sarah, Jordan and Milly. Nigel hopes the team can go to Hockenheim with the other Super Mods.

Paul Davis has replaced his altered with a dragster but the performance is a little short of what he and crewman Glynn Robinson were expecting, having qualified 12th with 8.965 in Super Pro. "We made our licensing runs at the Easter Thunderball, but rather than run 8.5 or 8.6 which we expected, the car is in the 8.90 range. The motor is running very lean and we are just struggling to get more fuel through it. We've replaced the jets in the carb and done some work on the channels and hopefully this will cure the problem." The chassis was originally built by Tim Read, being an ex-Doug Bond item, and there are new body panels and running gear transferred from the altered (BBC with single Dominator carb and Powerglide). Paul will be travelling to Drachten with the Super Pro contingent from the UK, having raced there in 2003 and 2005 in Super Comp.

9.50 Bike qualifying is being led by Stephen Mead, whose debut meeting this is. Stephen who is from Weston Super Mare usually runs in the National Sprint Association, but his 9.511 on a 1500cc Hayabusa has been sufficient so far for pole position. Ady Lockley who is usually a Super Street runner is second and championship leader Andy Bird is third. The class is becoming extremely competitive with only two tenths covering the first eight riders.

10:30

Good morning and welcome to Saturday's pit notes.

Our first set is courtesy of PiPPi of Harleydrags.com, covering all bike drag racing news in Swedish.

There are some interesting new developments for 2006 in the Scandinavian bike pits and we welcome two new bikes into the Pro Stock bike fold, Anders Jakobsson of Sweden and Tom Tinndahn from Denmark. Both riders competed sucessfully in the Scandinavian Harley Drags-series under rules with street tires and no wheeliebars. Anders Jakobsson rides a more conventional Pro Stock Bike, a 1510 cc 2-valve Suzuki motor in a chassis that was raced by Connie Cohen in the 2005 NHRA championships.

Tom Tinndahn has stayed in the V-Twin camp and has brought a complete G2 Motorsports Pro Stock Bike to Europe, the first of its kind on European soil. It is an absolutely immaculate bike, easily the best engineered bike in the pits and in this reporters eye the best ebgineered vehicle in the pits, all categories. Don't miss it if you're on the track this weekend.

This is the first Euro Championship race for both riders and they had a good test'n tune weekend at the Gardermoen Racetrack a few weeks ago. On his first two full power runs on a sub 9-second bike, Anders Jakobsson pulled back to back 7.4's which could mean a bit of trouble for some of the more seasoned Pro Stock Bike racers.

Another new entry from up north is the Funny Bike of Rickard Gustavsson. The bike is the ex-Korry Hogan entry which made a good deal of trouble for its fellow competitors in last year’s AMA ProStar Funny Bike championships with regular outings in the 6.4-second range. Rickard is new to these bikes but also had a good weekend at Gardermoen Raceway where he pulled 1.13 sixty-foot times at low 7.4s, his first time out under full power. Rickard will race this bike in the Top Fuel Bike category in this year’s European Championships.

Roger Pettersson is not racing in Pro Stock Bike this year but Team MotoSpeed with last years # 2 and #6, Anders Abrahamsson and Örjan Gustavsson, is out in full force. Anders has tested well with a 7.31 in Norway where Örjan unfortunately damaged a crankshaft but, for this weekend’s race has installed an ex-Roger Pettersson motor. Team MotoSpeed looks good so far but we'll know a lot more in less than an hour when the first real race numbers of 2006 come up on the Santa Pod displays.

Patrick Jacobsson of www.promodified.se has also kindly supplied notes from the Pro Mod and Pro Stock pits.

Jörgen Karlsson has a new 2004 Mustang in Red (team-mate Roger Johansson's similar 2004 Mustang is Blue), and is returning following a fire in testing before the 2005 European Finals. He said, "It's good to be back here again. We tested in Malmo a couple of weekends ago and had just a few small problems. I think it will be really tough in Pro Mod this year; all the cars have got such huge potential. We are aiming to get the car down the track without tyreshake, which is the main risk in this class." Jörgen is running a Fulton 738ci motor with nitrous.

Ulf Rapp has bought Roger Johansson's championship-winning Mustang and an ex-Jörgen Karlsson Fulton motor of 706ci. Ulf said "We were only able to do a sixty foot run in testing at Malmo, and it will be tough in Pro Mod this year." Ulf last ran in Pro Mod in 2004 with a Chevy Beretta.

Fredde Fagerstrom welcomes new sponsors Automotiv Chemicals and Amalie Oil to his Pro Mod team. The only mechanical part changed over the winter is the blower which was re-stripped. The popular Chevy Pickup has been repainted by Ray Hill and now returns to its original colours of black with flames. Fredde said, "Lots of people are coming by to take pictures of the car in its new colours; we have been with black and flames since 1978."

Jan Arve Nygaard has a new Fulton motor and two new team members for 2006 for the Pro Mod Corvette. "We hope to qualify in the top 16, but it will probably take a 6.50 to qualify. We haven't made a run with the new motor yet, and our best with the old one was a 6.7. We are expecting the track will be fast."

Jimmy Ålund has a new motor in the championship-winning Pontiac Firebird and will be racing it for the first time this weekend. New sponsors are Klintberg O Way (whose President is at the meeting today) and Shell. The team are the same as last year - Jimmy said "They are the best". He wants to make a statement by being no. 1 qualifier in the first session.

In Pro Stock bike, Len Paget said that he has had to fabricate a new chassis in three weeks when the old one becoming bent. "We bent the old one at the Easter Thunderball and repaired it, but it bent again at the Shakespeare Nationals." Len thanks Andy Robinson for supplying new tube. The complete running gear has been transferred from the old frame, and the Hyabusa body panels as well (Len's was the first Pro Stock bike ever to use these panels). Len said, "We will take it easy on the first run and I would like to see it run a 7.7 or 7.8 or faster if it goes straight. We know what to adjust on the frame and there is plenty of potential to run quick. Len is helped by crew Jill Lowe and Nigel Tea, and sponsors are Rob Wilshire Motorcycles, AGV Crash Helmets, Ray Debben Performance and AMS Oil.

Jon Morton (Super Gas and Super Comp) is currently no. 4 in Super Comp and no. 6 in Super Gas. The '68 Camaro, which was repainted by Neil Melliard of Prosign over the Winter, has a 540ci Jeff Bull motor and support comes from Performance Unlimited and BigV8.com.

Belinda Bull was delighted to be no. 1 qualifier in Super Comp with an 8.902 on her second pass. The Jerry Haas-built Chevy S10 Pickup now has the 555ci Jeff Bull motor from the Camaro. Jeff said, "I can't tell you how much throttle stop we are putting on it, but it's over four seconds."

Mark Pointer was unable to make a qualifying pass in the Fordson Van yesterday after suffering leaks on firing up. He said "We traced the problem to some poor gasket sealant, which got in the waterways and caused a misfire. In turn, this sheared some bolts in the blower pulley and we had to get some replacements from Rushden. We worked until 4am to repair the damage and replace both head gaskets which had blown." Mark hopes to be running in the afternoon qualifying session. Thanks go to crew members Rod, Duncan and Sharon and sponsors Fusion Audio."

Ronald Jutting did correct us in that his personal best in the Spirit of Westphalia Beetle Funny Car is 8.23, and also mentioned that the team had to work overnight to change bearings on the rods.

Mark Flavell (Super Pro ET) was also unable to run yesterday due to a series of problems. He said "We were called out for he first qualifier, but in the warmup, the gearbox spun the rear of the pump and broke it. When we eventually got out for the second run, the starter motor broke. I want to thank Paul Wright for the loan of a replacement and also Steve Johnson and Jeff Bull for their help. On the third session, we popped the burst panel. We're ready to roll and were all repaired by 9pm last night." Thanks also go to sponsors NGK.

Derek Flynn (Super Pro ET) suffered a lifter bar breakage on his run in the Gold RV dragster, which in turn damaged the cam. "We replaced the parts, cleaned everything up and checked it all", said Derek. "I am getting tired of running 199mph, that's the fourth one in a row", he added.

Steve Johnson (Super Pro ET) mentioned why he has given up the gas. "It was too much expense and fuss to run with Nitrous", he said. "We can run 7.3s easily with the current combination", which he proceeded to do in this morning's session.

Nev Mottershead (Super Pro ET) is unfortunately out for the rest of the weekend with a broken camshaft. Previous owner of the motor Torben Stenstrom said, "It's a mystery as to why it happened but there appears to be no other damage."

Paula Atkin (Super Pro ET) said, "We had a problem yesterday when after changing into second gear the car just nosed over. We've installed another gearbox. We didn't get a chance to test last weekend because of the weather. We stayed up until 1am this morning to install the new gearbox. We did a lot of work on the chassis over the winter and want to run the car quick again before we use gas."