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16:55

Martin Taylor runs his VW Beetle in Outlaw Flat Four, for this season he has a new camshaft, new 112mm turbo which is a S380, a bigger inter cooler and he has changed the fuel system to an electric fuel pump. This season as also seen the addition of slicks, front runners and wheelie bars. On his only run so far this weekend he ran an eleven second pass but nearly took the Christmas tree out on the startling after the water pump seized up. Martin wants to run an wig second pass for which he uses 35lbs of boost and now has 200 more horsepower at the wheels, making 680hp. Martin's previous best is a 9.80.

Dave Cherrett is running in Sportsman ET this weekend instead of the usual Pro ET or Super Street Car. Dave says "I can't tell you our plan of attack... because we don't have one!" as we had nothing else to do and it's a bit of fun. Save took advantage of leaving the car after Dragstalgia last weekend and also plans to run next weekend at the Mopar Euro Nationals. In the RWYB he ran a 9.74 which bettered his previous best at Santa Pod down from a 9.76. Brother Stephen aims to run in Sportsman ET at Shakespeare County Raceway in August.

Russ Fellows is in his first MSA competition since the European Finals last year where he ran in Competition Eliminator. Since that meeting Simon Cooper fixed first gear which he broke and has been to the dyno where he made 672hp at the wheels at 38lbs of boost and 750lbs of torque. Russ has run a best of 9.21. Also new for this weekend is a new pair of Hoosier slicks after the last set had been used for 10 years and had done over 1000 runs, the tea have lowered the tyre pressure from 13 to 12psi. After problems bogging on the startling Russ is turning off the launch control on the next pass as the car has had problems launching. He also intends to 'compare laptops' with Martin Taylor at the end of today's action to see if there is a greater problem.

VW Sportsman racer Abi Tether is still working hard even though she is racing at Bug Jam as she is part of the team organising at the Olympic Games. Abi is pictured working remotely during qualifying passes. Abi will be back to the Olympic Village at 6am Monday morning as she will be attending the rehearsals of the opening ceremony and test events. Once the Olympics has been completed Abi will move to working on other events such as the touring cars and Blenheim Horse Trials. Abi's car of choice this weekend is a £300 Golf VR6. Work permitting Abi intends to run at the two remaining rounds of the VWDRC championship.

VW Pro racer Matt Attwood admits to 'showboating' which cased the break of the output shaft on the differential. Matt usually launches in second but tried in first for a bigger wheelie. The offending part was a type 25 synchro differential which is permanantly locked, this is the only stock part of the gearbox left and will be replaced with a proper spool next time. Matt is sitting out the next round of the championship but was not disheartened as he said that he has not watched the racing at Bug Jam before.

13:15

Lucy Matthews and Ian Huggan run 'The Darkside' VW Beetle in VW Pro, Ian has been testing the car in the RWYB session this morning but the car has only run a 13.9 whilst suffering from over fuelling issues with the nitrous system. When I caught up with the team Ian and crewman Ady Goodier were changing the solenoid for the next run. As well as the nitrous issues the team are testing a new set of wheelie bars. Lucy will be taking over the driving duties once the MSA competition begins this afternoon. The team's next outing will be at the August Bank Holiday meeting at Shakespeare County Raceway.

Polly Judge has had to borrow her 67 year old retired father's daily driver, a Corrado VR6 after her Wizard race car is not quite complete. Polly has already experienced some issues this weekend as they have melted the breather pipe but this was easily dealt with by husband Rob of RNJ Motorsport. Rob is also due to be having a ride in Santa Pod's two-seater dragster which was postponed from Big Bang, this was a 40th birthday present.

VW Pro racer Martin Charles has not raced since Bug Jam last year, the car has a best of 13.2 but the Cardiff based team are in need of track time to get the car below the class index of 12.99. Martin says he has slicks to go on the car but that they are staying in the shed until the car has run faster than 12.99 with the street tyres. The car is fully street legal and gets driven often.

Andy Raw is in attendance this weekend running as an exhibition car in preparation for the teams trip to Hockenheim which Andy was due to make last year but he only made part of the journey due to injuring his hand on the way. The car ran a best of 8.26 at the Main Event which was due to "Keeping his foot in" and a change in tune-up from Karl Harrison which included a change to the fuel return. The target is a seven second run which they hope to achieve by small changes in the timing and fuel system. Andy will be running in Super Pro ET and the night show in Hockenheim. After Germany, Andy will be crewing with the Harrison's at the European Finals and driving the VW Beetle at the National Finals.

Wayne Allman is also driving as an exhibition car this weekend. The car made it's debut two years ago and hasn't run in anger since. On its maiden voyage the car broke the reverser which was fixed quite quickly but Wayne has to sit out 2011 with family issues. The car now has a data logger and the fuel system has been flowed by Spud Miller at Fuel Injection Enterprises which Wayne says "Is the best money I have ever spent". Plans for future meetings are unclear at the moment as the Intergalactic Custom Shop has an 18 month waiting list and plans are to extend the workshop to cope. Wayne's crew includes Pro Modified racer Wayne Nicholson who will be attending Hockenheim for the first time. Tomorrow also sees Wayne's mum attending and she hasn't seen him race before so it should be an interesting experience for her.

Rob Elsom is running in Super Modified with his Oldsmobile Cutlass. Testing at the Retro Show carded a best ever of 8.42/160 which was due to a new clutch set-up and nitrous tune. The team are aiming for a seven second time slip. They aim to leave the engine as is with the exception of routine maintenance. Last night Sharon has to make a trip home as son Cody was unwell however both are back at the track this morning and Sharon even managed to sneak in a couple of updates on her many Facebook groups before travelling back to join the team. In addition to the usual crew Rob has the assistance of Steve and Matthew Seamarks. If all is well this weekend the team aim to come back next weekend for the Top Sportsman event at the Mopar Euro Nationals.