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17:00

PiPPi of Harleydrags.com had some more bike pit notes for us after the second session yesterday. In Super Twin, Lo Stauble is happy with his run, and had no problems with the bike, although he did ride close to the wall and is aiming for a 6.5 next. Hans-Olav Olstad has backed the bike down and has not yet used the clutch cannon that he now has, but looks forward to the opportunity to step up and bring this into play. Roel Koedam's first six on a Super Twin caused the Pels family to be all smiles, in contrast to the first run when a broken blower belt temporarily spoilt the dream debut. Acka Riemer is dealing with a new clutch setup. Stefan Iwanowitsch has a new setup and was pleased with a 7.524; a clutch adjustment will be made to launch the bike more aggresively.

In Top Fuel Bike, Rickard Gustafsson's bike had fried the clutch so badly on the first pass that you could still smell it in the pits later. After a 6.64 in the second session he was fine though and will head towards a 6.5s. Luigi Ferretti's bike broke a belt on his second pass, which hurt the ET. Neil Midgley is consistent with two 7.1s but there is much more to come from his new bike. Gary Jones is only five hundredths off his personal best of 7.46 on the new bike. Tim Blakemore suffered more clutch woes. Eric Teboul broke a front sprocket but has made repairs thanks to Hans-Olav Olstad, who supplied a lathe.

The big news in Pro Stock bike is the new ET record of 7.243, which broke the previous record held by Roger Pettersson since Alastaro in 2004. Tom Tinndahn's second pass was affected by an overly tight clutch. Anders Abrahamsson was unhappy with a 7.31 as there had been a glitch with the clutch throw mechanism that prevented him running in the twenties.

Orjan Gustavsson's engine problems continued after the idle rpm dropped and the problem was traced to the crank; the team were putting together the previously mentioned 'Sid Vicious' no. 1 motor for the next run. Martin Newbury's 7.753 run was a personal best and Fredrik Fredland's 7.63 is the best from the three rookies in the field.

We spoke to UK Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Woollatt who mentioned that his 6.487 was an early shutoff, as hinted by the 189mph terminal speed (The Dealer has run a best speed of 219.98mph). "On the second pass we put a new fuel pump on the bike after Phil Baimbridge had looked at the data. It ran a tad rich and dropped a cylinder at about 60 feet and went into tyre shake. Up to that point it was flying and was faster than the previous pass, as our g-force meter showed." Steve was in admiration of Eric Teboul's launch, a sixty foot time of 1.000; "Our best sixty foot has been 1.005", he said.

12:25

Welcome to today's pit notes. As you will see from the webcam, conditions are not great today but we will bring you the pit notes from yesterday evening's walk and some from racers we haven't got to see so far.

Danny Cockerill has Carl Spiering who owns Engine Research & Development based in Jordan Station, Ontario, Canada, and drives his own car on the IHRA circuit. Carl supplied a new engine to Danny and its quality immediately became apparent when Danny ran a 6.176/230.73, Europe's first 230mph Pro Modified pass. Carl said "We were hoping to have a good weekend but really didn't expect to have such a good run. Was I surprised? Not really as Danny now has power for a 6.0 pass, but the surface here is different to what I am used to and we will need to work round that, but it will be possible. It took ten years for me to get into the teens, but Danny does it on his second run.

Carl continued "Danny has got the perfect package because he has a good car built by Andy Robinson. I came over to Europe last September to oversee Gordon Appleton testing and got in touch with Danny then when he had his previous engine programme. Danny then came over to spend a week with us at the World Nationals at Rockingham and after that signed up with me. I like to look after my customers well.

My business covers all car classes except for nitro, but it also includes dirt and asphalt oval racing. I have a great group of guys who have their own specialities. Terry Vince is my engine builder and originally worked on World of Outlaws motors which have a very restricted specification and need good durability, longevity and power. Rob Becker has worked for years on Super Stock cars where gearing is very important as well as engine preparation.

Pro Modified engines are still essentially Methanol Funny Car and Dragster parts, but with a lot more restricted supercharger. We are developing an engine programme which will be more suitable to this class."

Joining Buell Pro Stock racer Tom Tinndahn this event is Chip Ellis who is currently fourth in the NHRA Pro Stock Bike Championship. He said "Tom decided to buy a bike from us when he visited us at a race in the US. It's my first time in Europe. The scene here is pretty awesome and a real family affair. Pro Stock bike is competitive with close ETs at the top. We would love to see Tom run the same numbers that we do in the US and we are trying to get the tuneup to suit him and the bike in these conditions.

"I've been racing Buells for three years. The reason for Buells running so strongly in the US is that George Bryce, who won six NHRA Championships and George Smith, owner of S&S Cycle joined forces in 2003 to create G Squared Motorsports. I came on board in 2004. Ken Johnson and I build customer bikes using Kosman Specialities frames. We then demo the bikes for the customers at the track and help them to dial them in. Every Pro Stock bike we have built has run 7.0s in the US. Seat time is very important as well as funding, because speed has a cost. This is Tom's first Pro Stock bike and he's doing a great job. The track time is limited in the US and so far this year, I've made over 100 passes and it's easy to improve as a rider if you run that frequently. In Europe you can go for eight months without being able to make a pass.

Tom said he is grateful to MC Parts, a Harley Bike shop in Farum, Denmark for their sponsorship of his Buell racing team.