Super Gas racer Jon Morton was qualified third at the end of five qualifying sessions. He said 'We've had a year of trouble. There were gearbox problems at the end of last year and at the start of the season and fixed them after a couple of meetings. Then the next three meetings were all rained off and we had limited runs to get the car dialled in. So there haven't been many opportunities to accumulate points.

Super Comp racer Paul Watson gave Eurodragster.com editor Tog a passenger ride on Wednesday's test and tune session. 'It was quite a soft launch and an early shutoff due to an electrical problem.' With the problem resolved, Paul ran three 8.90s in a row to qualify third.

Super Comp racer Rene Kloss with wife and NitrOlympX official Andrea is qualified fifth with an 8.917. Paul Marston will take delivery of Rene's car after the event and Rene will be looking to buy a doorslammer car to run in more events on the continent. A hello to Andrea's brother Tony Morris of BLP carburettors who is tuned in from Florida and has supplied Super Pro ET racer Thomas Haas with a carb to take him to new PBs.

Super Comp racer Paul Hudson has a new 1250 Dominator carb and said 'The car likes it so much it is breaking out'. He was qualified eleventh with a 9.017 after five sessions.

Topspeed Automotive racer Antony 'Butch' Wilkins is racing his 'Butchers Van' Hillman Super Minx which he built after his previous Morris Minor Traveller was written off at the top end. He said 'Street Eliminator is the ultimate dream class for me. I went on Ebay and found the car which was a four door saloon for £400. I cut the flooring out and used the old block to build a chassis round. Then I realised I didn't like the look and moved the roof back two feet to turn it into a van, which Hillman never made. If I had bought an estate in the first place it would have been too expensive'. The car has a similar engine to the Minor, a 454 Chevy with new block, heads and internals and a nitrous system which is yet to be used. Thanks go to Kim Bishop for help with building the engine.

Topspeed Automotive racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Jon Webster said after a 7.73/177, 'The track is very good and we turned it up every run. We have been tuning the car between events but not making any major changes. Some of the tuning is suspension changes to lower the centre of gravity and put harder rated springs and limit the suspension travel. On a good track we rely less on weight transfer for grip which improves the 60ft times'. As well as his own car Jon is helping Steve Neimantas, David Murdoch and Amanda Cox with turbo or engine setups.

Topspeed Automotive racer David Murdoch made his first runs on his new, very neat, turbo setup. He said 'We didn't run Dragstalgia as the car was not ready. We did a launch yesterday and ran 8.5s today which is great'. The engine has twin 88mm turbos and a Wilson manifold, with the motor built by Clive Bond and turbo and Motech system installation by Jon Webster. David said 'Driving it with turbos is totally different using the transbrake and footbrake to stage. The engine is hard to put on a dyno but expect it to eventually output 2000hp.

Topspeed Automotive racer Andy Bond said 'It started off a bad season as the car was not hooking up off the line. We changed a lot from the front to the back of the car, nitrous and suspension settings. We then started putting more nitrous in it gradually and it has responded. We ran three consecutive eights at this event and are aiming to hit the car's tag of 8.50'.

Pro ET/Super Gas racer Lee Huxley was pleased to win the Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light award in the first session. But the day went downhill from then. He said 'We were running in quick sucession in Super Gas and Pro RY and the gearbox overheated. Then the transbrake stopped working. Finally we lost the gears apart from first. The gearbox has always been a weak link and we are looking to replace our C6 with a Powerglide next season. Fortunately we have a spare C6 which we can install in a couple of hours'.

Pro ET/Super Gas racer Bob Molden managed to make ten runs. He said 'The car is really consistent and we are pleased to be no.3 in Pro ET and only 0.002 away from a perfect ET. We use a fan to cool the engine and also put a bigger radiator six monthe ago with an electric water pump to keep it cool'.

Super Pro ET racer Jack Brewster ran three 8.21s but his dial in board read 8.20. He said 'We are just playing with it with the current setup. The car just goes quicker than we expected. Thanks to Babs and Steve for their help at Shakey'.

Super Pro ET racer Roy Walker had a potentially nasty incident when a rod broke just as he was starting a burnout. He said 'Michelle was at the side and saw debris coming out just as he went on the throttle. A part of the rod that had gone through the sump got under the spinning wheels and was catapulted into the door of the barn'. Roy and Michelle are relieved that the incident did not happen on a run, however they are out for the rest of the season and possibly longer if the engine block is found to be damaged.

Super Pro racer Rene Ehrismann from Switzerland is running a '55 Chevy which was built by Pro Mod racer Tim Cook and then run by Henri Joosten. Rene said 'I bought the car as a roller two years ago and rebuilt it. The engine is 615ci with carbs and nitrous and Powerglide trans. This is my first season and my best so far is 7.8 with a little nitrous when we tested yesterday. There is more to come but we will run the rest of the weekend without nitrous for consistency'.

Super Pro racer Phil Toppin is out with a broken trans. He said 'After we launched there was a tremendous juddering down the track. I thought at the last meeting it was the tyres playing up but on the axle stands it was taking a huge amount of power to turn the wheels and they juddered to a halt. After two runs the convertor is still too hot to handle several hours later. It can't be repaired here. Up to that point the car had run a PB of 8.70 with increased power. We will upgrade to a Dedenbear Glide for next season'.

Super Pro ET racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Walters ran his final two TMD licensing passes at the test and tune yesterday in Dave Wilson's car and they were back to back 5.90s. He said 'It was an amazing drive, thanks to Dave and to Derek Flynn of Gold RV who sponsored me. When I ran my car this morning things went wrong on the first run which was slower than normal. When we checked we found some aluminium in the rocker area and the main cap had broken which is not repairable here. We will need to assess whether we can repair it for the National Finals'. Best wishes go to Gary Kay who is at home with a broken leg after a motorcycle racing accident.

Pro ET racer Sean Law has new body panels and a new paint job on the Wicked Lady dragster from Custom Exotics in Harlow. The car was completely rebuilt after chassis damage in 2012. The car's owners are Bob Callendar (crew chief), Karen Callendar, Suzanne Verlander and Darren Law.

Super Pro ET racer Rod Harrison is out for the weekend with his engine having thrown a rod on the left hand side. He said "It happened in the shut down area and I felt it as soon as I pulled the chute. It was after a 6.78/204 which was one of the best runs the car has done. There is also some damage to the top of the pistons as they hit the head. We have a spare engine at home but it is not ready to go in. This block will have to be sent to the US for repair'. The team will still be busy with Mark Adams in Team Stardust dragster and Karl Harrison also crewing for Jason Phelps's Fuel Funny Car.

Super Pro ET racer Wouter van Leersum from Holland was pleased with a personal best of 7.21/188. He said 'It is my first run over 300kph and the car is running very straight. We have the same setup as last year but have increased the overdrive on the supercharger to 44% as it is not restricted in Super Pro'.

Super Pro ET racer Dave Catton, pictured with Chris Parker who licensed yesterday in the Windscreen Wizards dragster of NG Racing, said a tyre problem on the car was traced to a faulty pressure guage. Chris, who worked on Barry Sheavills' team for some years, has worked in marketing and design including the Haddock and Gilbertson US nitro teams, and attended Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School in 2012. He said 'I was looking for a car to drive and Nick Good had an opportunity for me. I had to do a footbrake launch as the transbrake is non-functioning and ran good RTs and a 7.81 best'. Chris, who will compete in the National Finals, is also crewing on Nick's blown car which has been running stellar 6.7 times.

Super Pro ET racer Liam 'Bomber' Jones now has a suitably military style vinyl wrap. Crewman Gary Coull said 'Liam and I came up with the concept, Peter Walters designed it and Luke Robinson applied it. The car had its first nitrous pass yesterday and pulled a three foot wheelstand before Liam lifted. On a later pass it went 7.30/191 PB. However this morning there was an electrical issue and the solenoids operating the nitrous stuck open and it was probably the biggest nitrous purge in history.'. The car ran a 7.05 in session three. Liam and Gary welcome Rob Stanley as new crew member. The team are sharing their pit with Liam's uncle Phil Jones who is in Super Comp with the ex-Paul Brown car.

Super Pro ET racer Billy Gane suffered an oil pump failure on his first run, a breakout 8.83. He said 'We got to the end of the pass and the oil pressure dropped dramatically. It looks as if a valve has stuck in the oil pump. Thanks to Geof Hauser who has offered us a spare'.

Super Pro ET racer Steve Saunders ran two PBs, an 8.495 yesterday and 8.490 in session one. The 8.490 was a breakout but a subsequent 8.509 on an 8.49 put Steve into ninth.

Super Pro ET racer Marck Harteveld has had a blown KB Hemi in his Plymouth Superbird from the start of 2014. He said 'At the Main Event we ran once and it rained. Then at the Mopars the engine kicked a rod out. We fixed it then went to Hockenheim and were still working on it and did not run. We fired it up yesterday and did a half pass but found third gear had broken. We worked to 4am rebuilding the gearbox with parts from Danny Bellio and will now do a full pass'. The engine has an unusual roots-style Procharger and BA heads.

Super Pro ET racer Mark Flavell had a problem at May's FIA Round One meeting when the engine broke even before the car had staged. He said 'We are back after a new set of rods, two liners, three pistons, a camshaft and an intake valve. To be honest it was an own goal but you learn from experience. We plan to sneak up on it, go steady and not dive in. We will do a half pass next session and then try for a full pass'. Mark thanks Prestone and Gold RV for their support.

Pro ET racer Ethan Lisle has been driving his Plymouth Road Runner at rwybs for six months and this is his first competitive outing. He said 'I ran at Dragstalgia and the Mopars. My dad Paul bought the car from it previous owner Dave Wright about 20 years ago and was at Dave Billadeau's for five years being rebuilt. Geof Hauser and Jon Webster did the chassis work, Brian Whitfield repainted it in its original colours and Dave did the 540ci Mopar engine. I want to run a ten however we had an oil leak yesterday and Paul has gone back home to Newcastle to get a replacement oil pump and gearbox which we will fit overnight and hopefully be ready for Friday'.

Pro ET racer Paul Baynton is back after taking time out to get his Capri Mk1 resprayedand work commitments. He said 'I designed the scheme and Martin Curbishley painted it, the blue really sparkles in the sun'. The twice championship-winning car has a 383ci Chevy with TH350 gearbox built by Dave Milam. Paul said 'Since 2008 I have only done one full season, my daughter Laura is now crewing for me and will possibly be driving the car next year'.

Pro ET racer Liz Malcolm has returned after a short layoff following an accident to her foot at home. The car with its auto gearbox with new internals, improved to 1.52 60ft times from previous 1.6s. Iain said 'As Apsley Transmissions, we are normally work on manual boxes and the auto box is working great here'.

Pro ET racer Steve Hudson has been upgrading his Intreveanous altered with a new camshaft, valves and head work he carried out himself. He also applied a paintwork. He said 'The cam broke at the Main Event'. Thanks go to Gino Bernadine for his help with the paint.

Pro ET racer Alex Mahl from Austria is at his first SPR meeting. He runs a rare AMC Gremlin. He said 'Four weeks ago at Hockenheim my ETs were not as good as here. My best is 10.17 and my first run this morning was 10.20. Sportsman racing is about more than competition, by coming here we meet more people and get into our hobby more deeply'. Alex has had to travel 1300km from home to SPR.

Pro ET racer Jake Handy who is running for Eurodragster.com sponsors Jackson MOT, ran the car in Top Sportsman at the Mopar Euronats. He said 'We ran a 9.14 then and have done a 9.05 in Pro ET trim. It's a big move up from the Sportsman ET Camaro which ran 13s. The first run was scary, I got on the throttle to leave and the reaction threw my foot off it. The transbrake is also great fun but you have to make sure your head is all the way back on the launch'. Jake is pictured with Ian and Carol Jackson.