Competition Eliminator competitor Andy Frost ran a speed of 190 in his Red Victor 2. "I had my biggest wheelie ever on my last run", he said. "I can't fit wheelie bars on with the Victor body shape. I did run less boost on the 190mph and the crucial difference is that I am using ET Street tyres which are cut slicks. The engine has more power than last year." Andy says hi to his friend Jason from BP who is here this weekend. Also present in Andy's pit is new Crew Chief Will Perry, of whom Andy said "I'm breaking him in gently."

Super Street racer John Ricketts has had a troublesome return after a six year layoff. After a huge cloud of vapour, he said "Water came out of the exhaust and we suspect a rod has broken and damaged the block. We ran the car in Street Eliminator for two years and in 1997, John Tebenham had driven it to the championship." The 105E Anglia has a 502 cu in BBC with Turbo Hydro 400 trans and ran a 10.85 and 11.00 before the engine damage. John said "The car is MOT'd and taxed. Thanks to team-mate Andy Gunn and Nick Curtis's team for helping strip the engine down."

Supertwin racer Ian Turburville delivers an eight foot long English Teles chainsaw to Norwegian Funny Car racer Arvid Grødem. Ian said "Ronny Aasen's crew member Roy Johansen lives on a beautiful farm in the Norwegian woods and keeps horses. He also collects antique chainsaws and always wanted one like this, which has a Villiers 125cc engine. He found one on Ebay and when I went to pick it up from him I found it was this long." Ian is helped by crewman Steve Leddell. Arvid said "I had no idea it was that large, but at least there will be no excess baggage charge."

Super Comp racer Chris Isaacs suffered engine damage in his Standard Vanguard after a white-out of the shutdown area. The spark plug on the left (above) has a damaged electrode from contact with a piston. "It has broken at least one rod. We will pull the sump off to see if the block is damaged but, being a Dart block I hope it will be repairable. We're probably out for the rest of the year. When the breakage occured, I knew there was probably oil and was careful on the brakes. In the event, there was no oil under the tyres, just a little mist under one and the car felt fine."

Super Pro ET racer Vince Gibbs was also the recipient of an unwelcome white cloud in the shutdown area. He said "We found nothing wrong with the engine. We recently fitted an oil accumulator in an effort to try to solve a low oil pressure problem. I think the problem was from overfilling with oil which then came through the piston rings. The problem was not apparent when I went into the shutdown area and when I reached 50mph I noticed a flash when a cylinder fired and saw smoke and then killed the motor. I thought I had broken again. We will hopefully be back later." The Firebird is an imported chassis with a separately imported engine and Neal Racing 'Glide.

S&K Racing with driver Roy Wilding identified damage on firing up the engine and are out of the event. Roy said "The bushes holding the roller rockers in the block have worn away and there is tremendous vibration throughout the car. We found it after firing the car up on the axle stands. Luckily we caught it before any damage was done, but we will need a visit to the machine shop to fix it." Co-owner Roger Sinclair (above, left), said "It's the first time we've made round 1 of qualifying in 40 years - we are late developers." Also pictured (left to right) are Steve Lewin, Herb Andrews, Angie Wilding, Kevin Tearrell and Roy.

Super Pro ET racer Rick Cooke (above, right)has been having a problem with gearbox seals. "We thought the breather on the box needed replacing but the new one has not cured the problem. In the first round, oil came out of the tail seal, the second run it was as dry as a bone and on the third time, a lot of trans fluid came out. We will have to nurse it for the rest of the meeting and then take it to bits."

As we passed Spencer Tramm, the engine was sucessfully fired up after losing a core plug earlier. Spencer is running the Corrado in Competition Eliminator this weekend, but the competition from Sweden in the shape of former NDRS Champion Per Erik Lindgren is tough.

Pro ET racer Gino Bernadine has run some low nine second passes in testing, but said the 2 bar boost in the turbocharged four cylinder engine is too much and the car is launching sideways. Gino said "Thanks to Andy Frost, we have borrowed boost sensors and a boost controller to try to bring it under control."

German racer Jens Riehl has returned to Santa Pod for the first time since being runner-up in Super Comp at The Main Event in 2006. He said "We had our first run today with a new 555 cu in Scott Shafiroff engine. We want to run the engine in and then plan to attend Mantorp, Gardermoen and the Finals." Jens is based near Hamburg but regards Santa Pod as his home track. The car has a Spitzer chassis and the crew comprises Martin, Jurgen and Jörg. Jens is sponsored by Hamburg firm Martner Metallbau.

2007 Super Gas champion Jon Morton was no. 1 qualifier after the first session and no. 2 qualifier in Super Comp. "We've a slightly larger Jeff Bull engine this year" he said. Jon pits alongside Dan Page who has helped Mort with the weather station and delay box as well as running Pro ET in his Camaro. Firecrest Services, who provide fire protection products and services, have become sponsors.

Super Gas racer Matt Eley has suffered from falling oil pressure at the top end of the track. He said "We were going to try the progressive nitrous system we installed. The previous system was too violent on the launch. Due to the oil pressure problem, we have stayed naturally aspirated for this event." The plan is eventually to run the Chris Isaacs-chassied Ford Pop in Super Comp, potentially on double duty. Team members are brother Russ and girlfriends Mand and Tash, and the sponsor is Alfa Tail Lifts.

2007 Pro ET Champion Lee Huxley (above left, with father Brian) missed the first session of qualifying thanks to a flat battery on his motorbike. The Top Banana Ford '32 roadster is for sale and the team have the parts necessary to turn it back to a road car. Brian said "It has been a great car to own and requires minimum maintenance - we just check the timing once a year and change fluids in the Ford 460 cu in engine and tyres. The only new parts needed this year were a brake master cylinder and Linelok. Lee knows it inch-perfect." Brian revealed that he is a secret Chevy fan and has a dream of putting Ford running gear in a '65 Nova 2.

Super Pro ET racer Rod Harrison of Team Stardust experienced a broken rocker unit and a small leak from the rear of the sump after running a 7.63. Pictured are son Karl Harrison (left) and Andy Raw (right) repairing the problem after removing the gearbox. Rod said "We have a new throttle activator and I am launching from the transbrake. It really gets my attention and I have to co-ordinate between the button and my foot." Rod (who has run a best of 7.27/182) drives at Santa Pod and daughter Kerry Rolfe at Shakespeare County. "Kerry had a great time at the last Shakey race and ran the car's best speed of 186".

Super Pro ET racer Nick Good suffered tyre shake on the burnout that tripped the engine kill switch. "We are running an all-new Steve Schmidt short block Donovan which has reduced the car weight by 10%. The heads are Dart Pro 1 and the blower is a set-back Littlefield 8-71 which runs at 30% overdrive. We have a rebuilt Powerglide by Al O'Connor and higher rear end ratio of 3.89 to prevent over-revving." The plan is to run a few tenths quicker than the previous engine's 7.2 best. Thanks go to sponsors Formula Tanker Rental and Beovax.

The signeage on Bob Glassup's Gold RV-sponsored Super Pro dragster says "Xtreme Bob - my other car's a Blown Hemi Altered". "It's so different to drive", he said. "With the altered you drive with one hand on the wheel and the other on the shifter and there is a lot of steering input. I keep both hands on the wheel in the dragster and push the buttons to shift, but it runs arrow-straight. When I move the altered to stage I can see everyone moving about, but with the dragster I only see hands reaching into the cockpit. There's more technology here and I don't have a shift light on the altered because I drive it by feel. The steering is super sensitive and the crew can tell when I look down to shift as the car wobbles. But you can't over-drive a dragster to get out of trouble like the altered, because the narrow wheelbase would have it on its side." After a 7.4/192 (NPB speed) the engine had a nipped piston. "The fuel pump dropped in pressure and it leaned out. With the altered you can see smoke from the headers but you have to hear the dragster to detect problems, and it's quieter."

The other perspective of changing car types is Mark Flavell who is in the Flavell Welding Saab Funny Car running in Super Pro ET. "It's a lot more exciting than driving the dragster, you need to make a lot more steering input and you are aware of being part of the machine rather than being hung out in the front. The noise is greater and to be honest it was intimidating at the start with all that horsepower, but I've gone t,hrough that stage and love it." Crew Chief Craig Owen said "After losing the engine at Easter we ran on Saturday last and had oil pressure issues which resulted in damaged bearings. Mark went back to Teeside to pick up the replacement parts and Steve Metcalfe and I rebuilt the bottom end. We finished late into Saturday night and on Sunday ran a 7.81 on soft settings."