Super Comp racer Malcolm Motler tested his Procharger-equipped Morris Minor pickup yesterday to his first eight, 8.94/150. He then ran a 8.94 and finished with 8.93/151. He said "I have finally met the target I have had over many years. I am hoping to repeat that today." There are five sportsman qualifying sessions in which he can run.

Super Comp racer Andy Williams has made a return to the sport after five years out following his engine being totally destroyed at the 2007 Euro Finals. He said "It feels like I've only been off one winter, but we had to save for a new engine and then two grandchildren came along. I bought Mark O'Halloran's old Super Gas engine which was identical to my old motor. I tried it at the test and tune and it is capable of running low eights, so the problem is slowing it down enough."

Super Pro ET and Pro ET racer Paul Brown has the opportunity of running ten passes today and was rushing to get out to the second session of Pro ET having run the first session of each.

Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer and Eurodragster.com webcam sponsor Jon Webster is running a Mercury Comet built by Webster Race Engineering. He said "The car has the drivetrain from the old MG, with a turbocharged 400cu in small block Ford and Andy Frost Powerglide. They work better in this car which has a SFI 25.1 full tube chassis compared with the MG's stock chassis setup. It ran a 8.1 at Bugjam but since then we have developed a new fuel injector which showed promise, running a PB speed of 173mph." The promise was justified with a run in the second session of 7.98/175.

Super Pro ET racer Simon Gough's Chevy Camaro was built for him in the US and is well supported by Chevrolet in the UK. He said "The car was fabricated by Alston Racecars in Chicago and the build started nine months ago. I tested it in Chicago and airfreighted it to the UK last Saturday. It has a 595cu in naturally aspirated engine by Nye's Automotive with split Dominator carbs and TH400 trans by FTI. The car was built in conjunction with Heidts Muscle Car Fabrication. I tested it at Great Lakes Dragway in Chicago to a 8.31 and once dialled in, it should run 7.8s." Simon owns the rights to importing Alston Racecars products in Europe and can offer a service of eleven weeks from order to turnkey delivery. The UK sponsorship comes from Toomey Chevrolet in Basildon after contact was made with Chevy UK. Part of the deal is a free giveaway tomorrow of £4000 worth of team shirts, caps and other accesories. Simon also has a 2012 Camaro 45 Limited Edition as a tow car. Why not buy a pre-used turnkey car and import it? "There is a lack of flow of new technology in the sport from the US to the UK and we can now offer the latest and tested parts for racers."

Super Pro ET racer Ashley Bell is racing his AC to times in the high eights. He said "At the last event at Shakey, there were drinks laid on for racers at the top end and I would really like to thank the organisers for that as it gets very hot waiting in the staging lanes. I love Super Pro because you need to run really close to your dial in to qualify and there is such a diversity of cars."

Super Pro ET racer Bernard Saz has a cool pit vehicle as well as a powerful racecar. Getting that power to the track is a key factor and a great (too great?) start of 8.44 on an 8.49 dial was followed by a hard launch and big move to the left. Regardless of performance, the team have got style.

Super Pro ET racer Vince Gibbs had run his first 200mph at Shakey but the engine's rear main cap cracked in the process with two bearings getting scuffed in the consequent loss of pressure. Vince had spares of these stock parts but the Moroso oil pump drive shaft was a special order. He said "The spare should be arriving at Hauser Race Cars and we are awaiting the call. If we can get it and install it which should take about an hour, we hope to be out this afternoon. We have left the tuneup where it was so that we can repeat the 200mph here too."

Super Pro ET racer Ian Turburville is planning an addition to his Mr Spokehead slingshot, this Ed Pink magnesium supercharger run in 1979-80 by Raymond Beadle in the Blue Max funny car. Ian said "Kenny Gomez of Superpower Unlimited has restored it and converted it to work with methanol." Ian's first run was aborted after the seal on a transcooler split. He improved to 8.74 and a subsequent 8.45 breakout in later sessions. Daughter Laura will be alternating driving with Ian next year after taking her DOT test during the winter months to enable her to run at non-permit events. Ian has bought the Ramraider dragster from Ed Yates to bring the family's slingshot count to two.

Super Pro ET racer Paula Atkin has achieved another landmark this year becoming the first UK female doorslammer driver to run 200mph. Today she displayed the car's consistency by running 6.9s and driving it right down the track every time even when it wanted to write an S.

Super Pro ET racer Martyn Jones achieved a long-awaited performance by running his first five in testing last Sunday, a 5.94/227. "It felt good but when I deployed the single chute we used, it didn't come out. I was probably distracted by wondering what I had run. By the time I put the brakes on it was inevitable that I was going off the end of the track. They reckoned I must have gone 200-300ft through the field and when I got out, I couldn't see the track. They had only cut the corn the day before and there was lots of straw around - fortunately the car didn't ingest any and the straw didn't catch on fire. But when we got back to the pits and cleared it up we discovered a problem with the steel brakes which must have overheated. I want to run another five and then we will slow it down for the 6.00 minimum Super Pro dial." His next pass was a 5.96/229.

Super Pro ET racer Ian Hanson ran in the Supercharged Outlaws sessions last Saturday to a best of 7.8, the car shaking the tyres on all four passes. He said "Our best so far is 7.24 at Shakey and we have selected a 7.29 dial-in and will match the car to that. It kicked two rods out and we have a fresh engine that I built from components. Ian's aim for the colourful '53 Vette is to run a six with a bigger blower.

Super Pro ET racer Mark Flavell now has a Hemi and Lenco in his funny car, but unlike Jayne Kay who swapped it with Mark's BBC/'Glide setup, he is having big problems putting the power to the ground through the clutch. He said "We are at the bottom step of the learning curve whereas Jane is up and running. We ran with no.7 cylinder out with a damaged plug. We check and double check but will only take the heads off if there is a problem we need to look at."

Pro ET racer Pel Norman ran his second eight today following a similar performance at the Mopar Euronats. He said "We put 100 jets in rather than 150 and it went too quick, but there are too many cars entered in Super Pro for us to switch! The car now has an anti-roll bar to stop wheelying. We will hopefully be doing a full championship season next year but a looking for sponsors to display on the car. We run the car at York in the heads-up Super Cup catgory and Pro ET and would love to see more southern racers come up to race against us, the track is good for anything down to 7.5s."

Super Gas racer Richie Webb ran a 9.091 at yesterday's test session for a new personal best but kept the times the other side of the class index at 10.2s today. The car was extensively reworked during Richie's time in the US.

Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Ian Hook recently announced his retirement from racing. He appears determined to go out on a high running back in the sevens today, a 7.97 in Super Pro which he is also running in. He said "The only physical change we will make to the car are tuning adjustments and we will dial in according to our best run, although we have a target of 7.80. The reason I am retiring is the level of work I need to do in the sport outside my day job. I have raced cars for 28 years, always street legal cars. I would have kept on longer with more sponsorship but am really grateful for the support I have had. My wife has let me take time out to compete in the sport and now she deserves to get some of that time back." Although he still enjoys racing he can't see himself come back in another capacity. "My team have always pulled through and we all come from the same area. My crew chief Martin Kerr is setting up a fabrication and welding business. My last meeting will be the National Finals." Ian's long-owned car and trailer is still for sale, although potential buyers will need to be quick as there is interest already.

Pro ET racer Fred Barenose is one of a number of Dutch racers here. He said "I came to SPR for the first time in 2011. My car, a Dodge Charger, runs on E85 bio ethanol and I only had to change the carburettor jets and a bit of plumbing to get it to run well - my best so far is 10.52. Fred is excited at the additional race being staged in Drachten in October to replace the rained-out event earlier in the year. He said "The track is great, we will have a field of eight Pro Mods and the quickest Pro Mod pass on the eighth will get a prize of €5,000."

Pro Modified racer Rick Garrett, pictured with crew (left to right) Ryan, Daniel, Rick and Nick, suffered severe transmission problems with his new '41 Willys and is doubtful for competition at an event he was hoping to license at. "I was hoping to do a licensing pass on Wednesday but the pump on the aftermarket two speed Powerglide failed, it lost oil pressure and there are damaged parts. It's unlikely anyone would have spares that would fit although I have been offered spare convertors." The car was built by Tommy Mauney and run in ADRL by Blake Housley where it won meetings and ran 3.97. Rick said "The car is made very light with lots of carbon fibre and titanium, 115 inch wheelbase and 45 inch front overhang making a front 'flag' unnecessary. The engine is a Fulton 740cu in with nitrous from Roger Johansson and runs on SV05 unleaded fuel." Rick plans to run the National Finals to complete licensing requirements and then run the full MSA series in 2013.

Super Pro ET racer Rod Harrison is running in the 7.7s area, rather than low sevens the car is capable of. He said "We have detuned the car for this weekend as it is being hired out next year and we agreed the ET with Mark Adams, the initial driver of the car. We will be able to have a good weekend's racing using these settings." The plan is to get funds from hiring the car out to run the team's Funny Car which has received a big rebuild with an ex-Shockwave bodyshell and new engine parts. Plans are for rwyb testing in October.

Allard Chrysler Action Group project partners the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) have a large group of interested students attending. schools and colleges on IMI programmes have been invited to attend by ACAG Chairman and Eurodragster.com blogger Brian Taylor. They were accompanied on their tour of the pits by British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Chairman Stu Bradbury. More details of IMI including how to join their apprentice scheme are at www.motor.org.uk