Pro Stock bike racer Len Paget said that he has freshened the 1640cc Suzuki engine following damage at the Shakespeare County meeting a couple of weeks ago. He said "September is busy for me with the Euro Finals, Extreme Performance Bike weekend and National Finals and I also plan to compete in a motocross race at Weymouth on October 5th. The beach races are fun as it is free to enter, there are massive fields and it is for charity." Len has worked on his PSB's aerodynamics and has come up with a carbon fibre sealed airbox that fits of the inside of the front fairing. The towel pictured covers other speed secrets.

2007 Top Fuel Champion Urs Erbacher said "We are no. 4 in the points, one and a half rounds behind Lex who is in the leads. So we need almost the same scenario as last year with the other three to go out in the first round. Our reliability this year is much improved and we have run 20 passes on our current engine. The only main change is a new crank. It's our own setup and I'm pleased with the whole team's efforts. We are working on getting sponsorship to run the whole NHRA series next year. We will get a new Hadman car after the Finals and will debut at Winternationals. We will keep our present car in Europe as it will still be legal for Top Fuel and it may be up for rental." Urs is looking for a second trailer to accommodate the expanded vehicle count. Publicity for the 2009 campaign will be aided by a planned second series of Kings of Nitro.

Pro Modified racers Dave and Roger Moore have their Viper here. They are down on team members as three of their crew are poorly and may have to rely on borrowed crew. "We have come with the car ready to race," said Roger. "We completed our observed runs at the Summernationals. The car has a new RAM twin plate clutch and bigger front tyres to change the ride height. With our ex-Bert Englefield three stage nitrous engine we are set up to run a six. If we qualify it will be like winning the FA Cup."

Swiss Pro Mod racer Rolf Amman, who came into contact with the wall at last year's Euro Finals, said "It has taken us nine months to rebuild. Andy Robinson did the chassis work and our team the body repairs. Our first race was Hockenheim and we were runner-up and ran a 6.573/361kph. We hope to have a good time at the best track in Europe and plan to run here and Hoceknheim in 2009 as we do this for fun out of our own pockets."

Competition Eliminator racer Dave Hughes brought out the ex-Graham Ellis Cutlass this meeting. "I previously raced two '57 Chevys. The second was from Peter Wacker and I initially had a 615cu in engine on pump gas. I replaced it with a 706cu Eagle motor which was too powerful for the car. So I bought the Cutlass as a roller and I.C.E. rebuilt the engine. I can't give enough thanks to Adrian Spencer (clutch), Nick and Rob at I.C.E. and Andy Robinson for his help with the Lenco. They have all passed down their knowledge and given me encouragement to go further than I otherwise could." Dave's performance targets are low eights or high sevens at 170mph in A/A. Crew members are Dodgy Steve, Adele, Woody and Spencer Tramm.

Super Pro ET racer Martyn Jones will be bringing out an all-new car next season. Pictures of the nearly complete draster are on Flickr. He said "We originally planned to debut it at this meeting but the chassis only came off the jig two weeks ago. So we will first be running it fully prepared and painted at the start of 2009. My target is to run a five and it has some good parts - the engine was Shelly Howard's spare and the blower was Ken Perry's spare."

Crew member Scott Barnes had a great experience in Martyn's current car yesterday. "My previous best was a 14.2 in my brother's Renault 5 at a RWYB. Sid offered me a drive and it was the chance of a lifetime. I did a launch, half pass and full pass. I sat in the car in the pits to learn the controls and warmed it up. It was then down to the start line. I was calm until I pulled round and then the nerves kicked in but I got calm once I started. On the full pass I ran an 8.42/156, almost six seconds off my previous best. The launch feels like being launched from a catapault and my stomach was left back on the start line. Once you have done this you just have to do more." Scott's brother Thomas is a crew member for Andy Robinson and dad Tom Barnes used to race here.

Also enjoying the track yesterday before the rains came was Super Pro ET racer Steve Johnson. The dragster has received some additional engine parts this year including Big Chief heads, titanium valves, EPD sheet metal manifold, Enderle injection, carbon fibre hat and Dynatech headers. Steve said "We ran a 7.0 at the Summernationals and a best of 7.3 in five runs yesterday. The stall speed on the convertor is currently too low - our 7.0 was from 6,400rpm and we only had 6,000rpm on the launch. Ideally the stall speed needs to be at around the level where peak torque is made. With our other engine this was 7,000rpm and the engine produced 900hp and 800lb/ft of torque. The current setup is good for 1100-1200hp but have not yet had it on the dyno and before yesterday I had only made six runs with it."

Martin Curbishley has made his return to the track at this event in Competition Eliminator running this immaculate '63 Corvette which was originally built and run by Jon Hogarth in Super Modified. The engine is slightly larger than the roadster at 585cu in. Martin's website for the Curbishley Automotive body shop and paint business is here.

Pro Modified racer Mats Eriksson was back in the six-teens at the NitrolympX with an early shut-off 50m before the finish line. He said "On the other runs we had problems with the battery and tyre shake. We enjoyed the event but the track had quite a small window for adjustment. In the first round of eliminations we ran a 6.6 but against Micke Lindahl we left late and had tyre shake so we were out of the race and we needed a win for the championship. The car feels good." After the Veidec Festival Mats welded the rear axle and changed some of the rod ends. "For next year I want to get stainless steel rod ends with a carbon fibre surround rather than teflon, and think that many Pro Mod teams will be looking to make this type of change." Congratulations to son Ludvig Peres who has won his second Swedish championship in a row and has also clinched the NDRS championship in Junior Dragster.