FIA / FIM European Finals
Santa Pod Raceway, 7th-10th September 2017

Thursday



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Super Pro ET racers Brad Jackson and Chris Parker whose cars are run under the Nick Good Racing colours, with Nick's own car also being sponsored by Lucas Oils UK. After five sessions Chris was 0.0095 over his 7.72 dial and the near-identical car of Brad Jackson was 0.0116 over its dial of 7.75 to go sixth and tenth respectively. Meanwhile, team owner Nick had recorded passes of 6.95/185 and 6.84/190 and 6.85/189 to qualify ninth after five sessions.


Super Pro ET racer Bob Doyle (pictured right) ran a new PB of 8.386/158 in session one. Wife Tracy said 'We have sorted all our gremlins from earlier in the season and Bob even lifted the front wheels as a tribute to Rick McCann. All the incrementals were PBs, with a 1.206 60ft and 5.34 to the eighth. The car said Yes!'


Super Pro ET racer Stefan Jansson from Sweden, pictured with partner Marlin Krügel is running a 55 Chevy which previously had raced in Top Doorslammer driven by Pierre Rydberg and won the 2010 TD championship. He said 'We trailered the car over starting Monday from our home in Örebro - our local track is Lindesberg. I have only had the car this year, my previous car is a Volvo 340 which had run as a Pro Stock many years ago and, like us, was sponsored by Hansen. I bought Pierre's car as a roller and put my engine from the Volvo in it; it's a SBC of 377ci with 8/71 blower and two carburettors, running on E85 and putting out 900hp. We have called the car Frankenchevy as Pierre had an incident before selling it and we had to replace the front bodywork. We ran it at Gardermoen to a best of 8.44 but are just getting to know it and solve a few problems with the transbrake'.


Junior Dragster racers Saskia Fensome Jell and Aaron Fensome, pictured with Andy Fensome were adjusting Saskia's throttle cable as we passed. 'It had come loose', explained Andy, 'and it's crucial it works properly to get a good reaction time'. This is Saskia's last year in Junior Dragster competition and the team intend to announce their 2018 plans for Saskia and Aaron tomorrow after finalising a deal.


Junior Dragster racer Billy Everitt is well ahead in the points. Dad John said 'We don't know about the weather but Billy has lost two championships in past year to rain'. The team's Alien altered, the only altered to win a Super Pro ET championship anywhere, sat engineless next to the Junior. 'We plan to build a petrol, single carb, big block engine for it to give Billy a consistent combination for him to use in Super Pro, and will keep the injection combination for use at nostalgia meetings.


Pro ET racer Callum Swinchatt was unhurt after the car spun about 60ft out from the launch and hit the wall. Callum had tried to correct after it had bounced and gone sideways, but it went round on him. His correction from where we were sat in the tower, was enough to prevent further damage. Dad Chris said 'There is damage to the front axle, steering components and suspension and we will have to repair over the winter, so unfortunately we won't be able to run the Hot Rod Drags. Thanks also to the SPR startline crew for their quick reaction to get to Callum immediately'.


Junior Dragster racers Caitlin and Morgan Wilson were no.6 and 7 after three sessions with almost identical RTs of 0.286 and 0.287. At the end of the day, the top 25 racers had run quicker than 0.1 RT.


Pro ET racer and sponsor of the Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light award Tig Napier has brought his Challenger back to the track after it was last seen at the 2015 National Finals. He said 'We have spent a lot of time rebuilding it, all the suspension has been renewed with some of the work by Webster Race Engineering and car repainted - in purple of course - by Bryan of Roberts Motor Bodies. The current engine is the spare 572ci with a tunnel ram fitted whilst there will be a refettled 615ci for the future'. Initial runs were in the 9.8 range and some tuneup will undoubtedly get those down to mid nines.


Pro ET racer Alex Mahl from Austria has become a regular visitor with his AMC Gremlin/SBC combination; this is his fourth consecutive Euro Finals. He said 'We warmed up but found some fluid leaks so will work on those and then run'. His first run was a 10.58 on 10.50 dial to place him ninth by the end of the second session. By the end of the fourth session, that time still stood as his best, but had slipped to 26th in the 38-strong field. 'I like to race here as we get a good number of passes and the other Pro ET competitors are so friendly'.


Pro ET racer Ron Heegenboom from the Netherlands has a Chevy Beretta which is for sale. He said 'I have had this car for around three years but have found another quicker car. I bought it in Holland from another racer. It has a 409ci SBC running on methanol with a single carb and Powerglide and has run a best of 9.13. At the end of the day he was ninth with a 9.300 on 9.29 dial-in


Pro ET racer Arie Wester runs this Corvette C3. It has a 565ci BBC and TH400 gearbox and he improved on his 9.92 PB in session four with a 9.88, and was in 17th position after five sessions at the end of Thursday.


Pro ET racer Carla Pittau has had Williams Bros Racing and Eurodragster.com sponsors OCS Paint carry out a body-off restoration the Heaven & Hell Camaro in order to make it a legal Stock Eliminator car. Partner Rick McCann said 'This is the car's first meeting since all the work. Everything is new, the interior is back in, all fibreglass panels are now steel, the windows are all glass, Williams Bros Racing have installed a 350ci Tilburg engine which fits the car into D/SA and we are running it at the correct weight. The index is 11.55. Carla ran a string of 10.86s after spinning the tyres in the first session. The immaculate paint is by OCS Paint and the lettering is a reproduction of the original by the same artist Andy Stroud of Hairy Designs and the chassis has been power-coated.


Pro ET racer Mike Lacey ran a 9.164 in session , very close to his PB of 9.15 run six years ago 'at Easter in cold air with a tail wind. It was awesome to run that quick after the diff broke at Shakey, and the car carried the front wheels more than ever before. We have spent a lot with a new front end on the Camaro, repairing the Vega and winning three rounds in it at Shakey, and even a new fire suit for me. And I'm excited to be second in the points too'.


Pro ET racer Geoff Cowley had a problem at the recent Shakey event when the front chassis member, the one the steering rack is mounted on, became loose. 'I felt the steering wasn't right and when we discovered the problem we put out an appeal for a welder. David Smith of Plumb Crazy racing came to our aid and his business partner Rob opened up his workshop in Tewkesbury on Bank Holiday Sunday and we took the car there to be rewelded, so many thanks to them'. Geoff was 14th at the end of the day with a 9.315 on a 9.30 dial in.


Super Pro ET racer Dave Russell is back after transmission problems at SCR two weeks ago. He said 'We had the transmission up to Andy Frost who rebuilt it and turned it round in three days, top man'. However he had problems during the first run and didn't make any of the remaining sessions.


Super Pro ET racer Ashley Bell brought out his refurbished 632ci AC Cobra and ran a 9.55 on a 8.85 dial in to be 30th after session two. The car then jumped out of gear in the final session.


Super Pro ET racer Laura Turburville went 7.822 on a 7.80 dial in session one to go third. By session five without improvement she was in fifteenth, with two more qualifying sessions planned tomorrow.


Super Pro ET racer Jack Brewster has a supercharger atop his 540ci engine, which has propelled the car from 8.2s to 7.61/180 on a 7.45 dial. After two sessions, he was 25th. After five, he had run a best of 7.46/186.


Super Pro ET racer Gordon Northway with Shannon Kiddell who drove his car at Bug Jam and rwybs. Gordon ran a 8.73 on a 8.65 dial in to go 19th after the second session, but improved to third in the fifth and final session of the day with a 8.703 on a 8.70 dial.


Super Pro ET racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Walters, in Perfect ET award sponsor Derek Flynn's car, ran a 7.022 on a 7.00 dial in to go eighth in session one. Derek said 'We are hoping for a six here, the last meeting we ran at had quite a headwind and the conditions here are more favourable. We won't be increasing the blower drive as we want to keep it damage-free'. He got the six, a 6.93/195 in the fifth session, well done Peter, Richard, Derek and team!


Super Pro ET racer Peter Lane, pictured left, had a trouble first run when the car slipped out of gear. He said 'It's a simple fix and will be out later', he said. In session two, he ran a 8.657/154 but as his dial in was 8.70 he remained in 33rd position. By the end of the day he had improved to thirteenth with a 8.656 on a 8.64 dial in.


Super Pro ET racer Al Golding had problems earlier in the season and stripped the heads down. He said 'We found the valves weren't seated properly which was causing oil to be sucked through the heads and out of the exhaust. So the engine smoke we had was not as bad as we feared. I re-seated the valves and it's fine now'. His first run was a 8.914/150 on a dial in of 8.60 to go 22nd in the first session, and by the end of the day the car was wheelying just as it had done fifteen years ago.


Super Comp and Super Gas racer Dave Day with son Elliott, helped by Sue Hunter, was tenth after two sessions with a 8.99/152. Super Comp has expanded this event with sixteen cars entered and the top ten separated by less that 0.1s after two sessions. A broken trans sidelined him in session four.


Super Pro ET racer Jon Gerritsen's car pictured before its accident when it spun round on the startline and the left rear wing hit the barrier. Jon was fine, but the car is out for the rest of the event.


Super Comp racer Darryl Howells decided to move to Super Comp after the car has been running mid-eights recently in its usual Wild Bunch category. He broke out with a 8.85 in the first session and went 9.33 in the second session to go 14th at the end of the day.


Super Comp racer Scott Crookston, driving Colin Millar's Flyin' Fyfer Pop, usually seen in Outlaw Anglia running sevens with gas, turned off the nitrous and went 8.936/149 to go fourth, ahead of several regular Super Comp racers, and by the end of session five, a 8.923 was good for sixth.


Super Comp racer Paul Hudson has returned after a top end accident in his Camaro a couple of seasons ago, in a dragster fittingly named 'Pension Pot'. He said 'I bought a rolling chassis and put the engine in from the Camaro and a new Powerglide gearbox. It feels very different to drive compared with a doorslammer, you are much closer to the ground and you have to steer with more finesse and small movements. It's also draughty at the top end, I opened my helmet visor and ate about 15 flies! Someone snuck a throttle stop on board and I started wondering why it slowed down after the start...' At the end of the day, he finished ninth with a 8.974.


Pro ET and Super Street racer Dave Withington was happy with the results of the test session yesterday. 'I ran a perfect 10.900 yesterday which was a PB. It's my second year in racing, I started in Sportsman ET with the car as a part finished project running thirteens and have developed it into a ten second car'. The engine is a 454ci BBC with double pumper Holley carb and TH400 trans. The only problem so far today is the throttle cable coming off in the first run. Super Street is being run as two separate eliminations and qualifying this weekend, to give racers more track time.


Pro ET racer Sara Unsworth is running improved times in the high tens. She said 'We worked on the rear suspension and added air bags and now the car is lifting its front wheels. We haven't modified the engine so far but I had a new camshaft for my birthday and will get some nice heads over the winter.' Sara gave a passenger ride on the test day to her dad Bob Dennis, who was surprised at the level of acceleration in the ten second car.


Pro Mod racer Freddie Fagerström, one of SPR's long-time favourites, has a trailer unit painted in the inimitable flames.


Pro Mod licensee and Eurodragster.com sponsor Jon Webster tested yesterday with great burnouts and a best of 7.624/190 as he ironed out the bugs. He said 'We made another step forward, we had made chassis changes which made the car react better and we are getting Dave Rowe of EPS to work on the fuel map which at the moment is quite rich. We found there was too much downforce at the front which caused the boost to drop out at 300ft which then caused tyre shake and unloaded the rear tyres. We will have to look at that. I was surprised to get a 190mph teminal speed but I will need to run 7.4s to get licensed. We are in good shape to move forward and expect progress during qualifying, although we are mainly here to test. Thanks to Jake and Chris for their help'.


Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Chris Isaacs tested last Sunday at VW Action and also yesterday. It's been a trying season with car problems and a road accident on the way to the Mopar Euronationals. He said 'I had a launch last Sunday to get me back into the seat then after two days in the trailer we found it had developed a misfire. It took most of the test day to find and cure it, and then we ran our best ever 60ft time of 1,020. We have just got some housekeeping to do such as getting the wheels certified but will hopefully be back to where we were. Rather than do well in testing and then slowing in qualifying, we want it to be the other way round!'



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