FIA Main Event
Friday


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Latest update: 19:30

Super Street Bike racer Dave Smith brought his new self-built bike to the event after a couple of test passes earlier in May. He said "The bike was built by me and has as many British parts as we can. I tested using 6lb of boost and ran 8.3. Today we want to raise the boost to 20lb and we will hopefully run a seven." Dave encountered problems down track and will now aim to get a quick pass on the clocks during qualifying on Saturday. The bike has a Hays clutch replacing the previous slider clutch.

Super Pro ET racer Tom van der Wijden has owned his black Chevelle for two years and raced it in Pro ET running in the tens last season. Over the winter, the engine was replaced with a 555cu in Reher-Morrison unit which has run the car down into the 9.0s zone. The car runs a Powerglide trans and was built by the team. Sponsorship comes from WVB Holland and Tom's company www.stepaside.nl which provides US performance parts.

Super Pro ET racer Tom Atkinson licensed at the Classic Ford Show last Sunday and this is his first championship event. Tom ended the day qualified eleventh with a best ET a breakout 8.80. He said "Setting the dial-in is a decision between my Dad, Kirstie and I and we all have input. Kirstie gave me an L plate for my birthday and after I got my license, she gave me a P plate."

Super Pro ET racer Marc Henney is delighted with Santa Pod on his first visit here. "I have a new chassis and ran a perfect ET on my first pass with it" he said. The chassis, built by Mike Bos Racecars in Tennessee, has mounted in it a Big Block Chevy with 620 cu in on E85 ethanol and a Dominator carb. Marc is joined by teammates Stefan and Marc. He said "The car is 70kg heavier than the old chassis and my best run so far is 7.58 compared with 7.57 of the older car," indicating a more efficient chassis design as well as more robust construction.

Super Pro ET racer Johan Oomen bought his Dodge Viper in 2011 from Gun Lake Performance in the US as a former Pro Mod car. He said "I had it resprayed and put my old QMP Racing Engines motor in it. I am using a single stage of nitrous but have a second stage if needed. The engine puts out 1100hp without nitrous and another 500hp with both stages. Johan, who organises the Drachten races, will run the car there and at Hockenheim as well as the Euro Finals.

Pro Mod racer Bert-Ove Olofsson is at Santa Pod for the first time since 1991 when he ran a street car. The bubbletop Chevy Impala he runs was built by his company Bertans Racecars which does work for various Nordic-based customers. The Impala ran a 5.97 in testing at Tierp in May and Bert-Ove is aided by US tuner Jon Salemi of Resolution Racing Services, whose client list includes the Al-Anabi ADRL Pro Extreme team.

Super Gas racer Stefan Reffeltrath, pictured with wife Anneke, bought his Chevy Nova from Wouter van Leersum turnkey. Stevan is racing the car for the first time at this event. He said "I drove a Sportsman ET Pontiac Firebird to a best of 13.2. This car is more difficult to prepare as it has a throttle stop and transbrake

Super Gas racer Dan Page is pictured left working out the combination with Rob Stanley . Dan said "I have a new Scott Shafiroff ctae engine rated at 850hp and have installed a throttle stop for the first time. I plan to run quick this morning and then adjust the throttle stop on the following pass." Dan's thanks go to Jon Giles for donating the throttle stop.

Pro ET racer Nic Williams had this broken transmission part which has led to the team needing to Flore, Northants, after taking the valve body out and fit it to their spare which will be installed into the car at the track. Team mate and brother Dan is preparaing for the forthcoming Sweden International at Tierp following a strong showing at the EDRS meeting there earlier in May when Dan was runner up. The team are now distributors for Joe Gibbs Racing Oil and K&N filters and have plenty of stock here at Santa Pos.

Pro ET racer Steve Unsworth has moved up a class after the addtion of a Vortex supercharger and new engine tune by John Sleath. Following engine damage before Easter, Ron Haslett helped with a rebuild. Steve said "This was a five year plan that has happened three years too soon. As well as the engine work we have put a new roll cage in. We ran our first eleven at Easter. This year we will dabble in Pro ET but next year we want to do double duty with Sara in Sportsman ET." Steve believes the Mustang is the only manual transmission with clutch in the class.

Pro ET racer Amanda Cox ran a new PB of 9.32 in testing. She said "We changed the rear end gearing to a lower ratio of 4.29 to allow the car to pull higher revs at the finish line. The engine is the same as last year with the exception of a Jeff Bull high rev launch chip and we have more tuning planned. But this is only our second big meeting and I was really pleased to improve my PB by half a second."

Pro ET racer Sarah Howells ran a perfect light and was magnanimous in allowing it to be reinstated, thanks guys. Team Ramraider which owns the dragster between four individuals, has the car for sale in order to build something "bigger, longer and faster." She said "The car is in its sixth season with over 400 passes on it and was built by us to a high quality. We run it by only needing to refresh the engine at the end of eaach season." Meanwhile a deposit has been put down for a new 510 methanol injected Big Block Chevy for a late 2013 or 2014 debut.

Pro ET racer John Morris imported this 80s Mustang from California a couple of years ago "to keep my hand in". The old Animal Magic Probe was dismantled and sold for parts. John said "The car runs 11.3s but there is more potential. The engine is a 351 Windsor pushing out 400hp with a single carb and C4 auto gearbox and the interior has been lightened although the car is still road legal. "I hope to run a ten soon after some tyre and convertor work. But it's great to be back for the first meeting after four years away working on my new farm."

Pro ET racer Dave Russell is also returning in the Van With No Name after building a new engine and taking a couple of years out.

Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Colin Lazenby, pictured with wife Anne-Marie, is back after taking 2011 off. Colin said "I did two runs yesterday, the first one with a gentle tune and new tyres, Hoosier block treads. It blew the tyres off, then on the second pass with more power taken out it did the same. It is not uncommon on new tyres to take three to five runs with reduced power before the tyres come good. This is nearly the same setup as when I last ran the car at the 2010 Euro Finals. The plan for this season is to see how the funding goes and do an event or two more."

Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Mats Andersson, pictured left with crewman Alan Williamson, said after session 1, "Up until now I have had the frustration of a cold or damp track. I have a new engine and I have gone three tenths faster than my previous PB already." The car has a straight six Toyota Supra engine with turbo and nitrous and engine management by Syvecs, a company that has an established presence in circuit racing and now developing engine software specifically for drag racing with Mats, Stuart Williams and Steve "Splinter" Nash. Mats said "They estimate power of 900hp which means the car should run 8.7-8.8s times." Alan is crewing with Mats as Chris Isaacs is currently constructing him a new SFI 25.2 chrome moly chassis for his white truck, ready for a debut next year.

Super Pro ET racer Chris Hartnell is celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II by putting up Union Jack bunting in his pit, wife and Wild Bunch co-ordinator Clare wearing Union Jack leggings and running a new PB of 8.72. However on the car's final pass a rod broke bringing a halt to racing activities for the weekend.

Super Pro ET racer Roy Walker has stepped up a class by installing a normally-aspirated 540cu in John Sleath-built Big Block ehgine in his Vauxhall. He said "The car launches straight and I am really breaking in the engine before John comes to the Performance Vauxhall Show and retunes it to run mid to low eights."

Super Pro ET racer Ian Turburville was pushed back in the first session with a minor leak, and didn't make the startline in the second and third sessions. It later transpired that engine damage had occurred, a pity for the team after their problems last year.

Super Pro ET racer Wouter van Leersum is running a supercharged California-built '68 Camaro looking just like a Pro Mod and running in the sevens in qualifying. Sounds like a plan... The car has a 541cu in engine, 14-71 blower, and former Super Gas racer Wouter is crewed by brother Anthony and Bass Zwaartman. For more details see here.

Super Pro ET racer Thomas Stiefel from Switzerland is here in his Andy Robinson built 420cu in blown 55 Chevy. He has the car running in the 6.9s range at over 200mph.

Super Pro ET racer Reinier Van Scheldt has a 37 Chevrolet pick up built in Texas and powered by a 672 ci Dart with 10-71 blower and twin carbs. The car runs in the 8.6 range in Super Pro and also competes in Super Comp where team member Jeremy Prince drives it. You can see more on Reinier's repair company X-Pair here.

Super Comp racer Noah Stutz is again racing under the Erbacher team banner as Noah's father Rito is a sponsor of Urs through his company SCS IT. Noah's car was built by John Parkes of Chrome-Worx based in Michigan, USA.

Super Comp racer Frank Eijskoot runs this unusual-for-drag-racing Pontiac Fiero, a mid-engined sports car built between 1984 and 1988. Frank won the Street Machine Dutch championship in 1995 with a '57 Bel Air and followed this up with a '62 Nova with which he won the Dutch 2000 Super Street championship. He sold the Nova in 2002 and took a long break until 2010 when he built the Fiero with the help of Chasis Engineering in Riviera Beach, Florida. With a front mounted 427ci Chevy engine, the car has been in the 10.3-10.4s range so far.



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